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www.asianhospitality.com
July 2025 | Issue 238
n June, President Trump reportedly
ordered Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to halt arrests of
undocumented hotel workers, as well as
restaurant and farm workers, various media
sources reported. However, the raids were
soon restarted and as of late June were
continuing.
Trump’s order to halt the raids was
intended to address industry concerns about
labor shortages. Citing internal emails and
other sources, the New York Times reported
the orders were to pause raids and arrests
in hotels, restaurants and the agricultural
industry. A source told CBS News that Trump
was not aware of the scale of the agency's
operations.
"Once it hit him, he pulled it back," the
source said.
Department of Homeland Security
spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said
immigration enforcement operations would
continue, Reuters reported.
"There will be no safe spaces for
industries who harbor violent criminals or
purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts,"
she said in a statement.
Trump acknowledged the impact of his
immigration policies on some sectors and
said he would issue an order "soon," without
giving details, according to the Post.
"Our farmers are being hurt badly and
we're going to have to do something about
that. We're going to have an order on that
pretty soon," Trump said at the White House.
He added that it would also cover the
hotel sector, which includes the Trump
Organization, his private business now run by
his adult sons.
"Our great farmers and people in the hotel
and leisure business have been stating that
our very aggressive policy on immigration
is taking very good, long-time workers away
from them, with those jobs being almost
impossible to replace," he wrote on his social
media platform before his Thursday remarks.
"Changes are coming!"
In April, Trump presented a plan to his
cabinet allowing undocumented hotel and
farm workers to leave the U.S. and return
legally if backed by their employers.
Also last month, protesters in Los Angeles
and other cities marched against Trump’s
policies, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“No Kings” protests against Trump’s executive
actions were held across Southern California
and the country after a week that included
National Guard and Marine deployments
to L.A. in response to unrest over federal
immigration enforcement.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
Immigration raids on hotels continue
Reportedly the immigration was on again, off again about the policies
As President Trump’s immigration roundups
continue, reportedly the administration has
gone back and forth on making policy changes
to exempt hotel or leisure workers, along with
others, from deportation. Protests against the
deportations took place in Los Angeles and
other cities nationwide.
ndian citizens applying for U.S. F, M or
J student visas must make their social
media accounts public before the visa
interview, according to the U.S. Embassy in
India. The U.S. grants F visas for academic
courses, M visas for vocational courses and
J visas for exchange programs.
The U.S. administration directed
embassies in May to halt student visa
appointments while expanding scrutiny of
applicants’ social media, according to a BBC
report.
“Effective immediately, all individuals
applying for an F, M or J non-immigrant
visa are requested to set the privacy settings
of all their social media accounts to ‘public’
to facilitate vetting required to establish
their identity and admissibility to the United
States under U.S. law,” the U.S. Embassy in
New Delhi posted on X.
“Since 2019, the U.S. has required visa
applicants to provide social media identifiers
on immigrant and non-immigrant visa
application forms,” the diplomatic mission
of Washington, D.C., in New Delhi said. “We
use all available information in our visa
screening and vetting to identify applicants
who are inadmissible to the United States,
including those who pose a threat to U.S.
national security.”
The U.S. consular team in India issued
more than 140,000 F-1 student visas in
2023—the highest for any country for the
third consecutive year. The consulates
in Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and
Chennai were the top four student visa
processing posts globally. Indian students
became the largest group of international
graduate students in the U.S., making up
over a quarter of the more than one million
foreign students.
In 2024, India became the top sender
of international students to the U.S. for
the first time since 2008–09, with more
than 331,000 enrolled. Graduate student
numbers rose 19 percent to nearly 200,000,
keeping India the largest source for the
second year.
However, President Donald Trump’s
administration moved to restrict the flow
of foreign students to the U.S., subjecting
visa applications to increased scrutiny,
especially following protests against Israel’s
military action in Gaza affecting Palestinian
civilians.
On June 19, the U.S. Embassy said a visa
is “a privilege, not a right,” and screening
continues after issuance. Authorities may
revoke a visa if the traveler breaks the law. It
also said using illegal drugs or violating U.S.
laws while on a student or visitor visa could
make one ineligible for future visas.
Ranjani Srinivasan, a graduate student
at Columbia University, self-deported from
the U.S. after her visa was revoked over
alleged participation in protests against
Israel’s military action in Gaza. Badar Khan
Suri, another Indian student, was arrested
during a similar protest at Georgetown
University in March, but a U.S. court stayed
his deportation and ordered his release
from detention.
Indian students must unlock SM for U.S. visa
The new rule is now in effect for U.S. F, M or J student visas