Visa and immigration policy: New restrictions

On the day his second administration began in Janaury 2025, President Donald Trump signed a large number of executive orders setting out his agenda, which included making a stark rightward turn in visa and immigration policy. One order set out his goal of placing new restrictions on entry to the US, stating, “It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”¹

Since then, a variety of policies and actions have affected, or threatened to affect, international students’ and researchers’ ability to come to the US, as well as US research institutions’ and companies’ ability to recruit talent internationally.

Some of these policies have been part of the administration’s campaign to clamp down on student opposition to Israeli military activities in Gaza, and some have been more broadly aimed at forcing universities to accede to a range of administration demands. For international students and visitors this has, for instance, meant opening their social media accounts to screening. For Harvard University, it has meant a threatened revocation of its ability to host international students and visitors.

In addition, students and researchers have been caught up in the administration’s larger effort to tamp down on the admission of foreign nationals whose presence in the US it casts as detrimental to national interests. Individuals from 39 countries have been barred, mostly or totally, from entering the country. The administration has also implemented policies aimed at discouraging US employers from using the H-1B visa program on the grounds that it has been disadvantageous to Americans.

Cite this resource

AIP Policy Research, “New restrictions,” Visa and immigration policy guide, American Institute of Physics, 2026, https://www.aip.org/research/visa-immigration/new-restrictions.

Last updated

March 7, 2026