The Trump administration is launching investigations into exchange visa holders at nine of the United States’ leading universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, in its latest offensive against international students and researchers at elite institutions.
The broad fraud investigation is specifically focused on J-1 visa holders, who at universities typically include international PhD candidates and visiting researchers.
“No one will receive special treatment just because their name is engraved on an expensive building,” said Anthony D’Esposito, the Inspector General of the Department of Labor, during a press conference on Thursday to announce the investigations.
Other institutions under investigation include Yale, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Arizona State University (ASU), and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). University representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the same briefing, the administration suspended an immigration program for several large technology companies, including Microsoft, alleging fraud and abuse in the work visa system.
On Wednesday, authorities also proposed a fee of up to $100,000 for international students seeking to enter a popular post-graduation temporary work program. The measure is expected to affect both universities and major tech companies.
The investigations are part of a broader federal crackdown on international researchers and foreign influence in American universities. In recent months, several federal agencies have opened investigations into donations from abroad to institutions such as Harvard and Duke, and authorities indicated that further actions may follow.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration also announced an initiative to train more American scientists in PhD programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), programs that have a high proportion of foreign students.
In announcing the investigations, D’Esposito pointed to the large number of foreign nationals in PhD programs and research fellowships as a potential national security concern.
“The Chinese Communist Party does not need to break into our research laboratories if the institutions themselves are willing to leave them wide open,” he said.
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