{"id":238643,"date":"2025-05-28T07:11:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T11:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=238643"},"modified":"2025-05-28T08:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T12:14:15","slug":"video-foreign-minister-reacts-to-americas-decision-to-pause-new-student-visa-appointments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/video-foreign-minister-reacts-to-americas-decision-to-pause-new-student-visa-appointments\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Foreign Minister Reacts To America’s Decision To Pause New Student Visa Appointments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Foreign Minister Warns Students to Be Cautious as U.S. Pauses Visa Processing and Adds Social Media Checks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene is urging Antiguan and Barbudan students to exercise caution and responsibility on social media as the United States government implements a pause on new student visa <\/a><\/strong>appointments and expands its screening processes to include applicants\u2019 online activity.<\/p>

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Speaking on WTP in response to the U.S. policy change, Greene called the announcement\u2014paired with recent U.S. immigration enforcement updates\u2014a \u201cvery challenging\u201d development for Antigua and Barbuda and the wider region.<\/p>

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\u201cThank God for UWI,\u201d he said, referencing the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus. \u201cOnce again, the investment we made in bringing UWI to Antigua and Barbuda shows good thinking, vision, leadership, and a demonstration of a protection of the interests of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While acknowledging that not every student will\u2014or should\u2014stay home for higher education, Greene warned that the visa pause comes with deeper implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the U.S. government is now conducting social media screenings as part of its student visa review process, with reports that several students\u2019 visas at institutions such as Harvard have already been revoked.<\/p>

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\u201cYour conduct, your very presence and position on social media\u2026 is now something that can be used against you,\u201d Greene stated. \u201cNo longer can it be just treated as a flippant space where you talk as you like and say what you choose.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The minister added that social media checks would not remain limited to student visas. He said the U.S. is moving toward incorporating such vetting in all visa categories\u2014both immigrant and non-immigrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe want our students to have a rounded view and opportunities in global universities,\u201d Greene said, \u201cbut we must also prepare them for the evolving realities of U.S. policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Greene pointed to political factors in the United States, particularly the hardline immigration stance of President Donald Trump, as driving the tightening of visa <\/a><\/strong>regulations.<\/p>

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\u201cHe was elected overwhelmingly, which means that there\u2019s a buy-in on the part of the American public,\u201d Greene remarked. \u201cAnd so he feels obligated to carry through on the platform on which he came to office.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Foreign Minister encouraged students who had not yet applied for U.S. visas to consider alternatives, particularly the local UWI campus, given the possibility that demand may rise as students from other countries also seek new study options.<\/p>

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\u201cWe cannot fight this,\u201d Greene concluded. \u201cWhat we must do is be prepared and ensure our young people do not fall afoul of policies that are entirely out of our control.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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