New Delhi: The US Thursday intensified its efforts to curb “far-Left terrorist groups” by announcing visa restrictions targeting individuals linked to such groups, right after Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a ministerial meeting on the matter.
Rubio’s ministerial committee witnessed participation from more than 65 countries. It is unclear whether India participated in the ministerial meeting. However, the Indian flag was placed behind the podium along with a number of other countries.
“For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot, a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left. Even today, the very idea that far-Left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream, or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy,” Rubio said in his opening remarks at the ministerial.
The Secretary of State added: “The President signed National Security Presidential Memorandum number 7, outlining a comprehensive strategy to investigate and disrupt Antifa terror networks and their allies. Last November, the State Department designated four violent far-left extremist groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and there will be more designations soon.”
Right after the ministerial ended, the US announced the new visa policy targeting far-Left terrorists and other aligned groups “who have supported or incited acts of terrorism; supported violent criminal activity; participated in economic sabotage; financed, recruited or provided logistical support”.
“This policy will safeguard the American homeland by restricting entry of foreign nationals who finance, recruit, incite, or otherwise enable terrorist, violent, and criminal Far-Left Terrorist networks—closing the visa pathways that Far-Left Terrorists and other aligned groups exploit to threaten American lives, undermine economic stability, and coordinate violent action on U.S. soil,” the US State Department said in a statement Thursday.
US President Donald Trump and his administration have spent the better part of the last year-and-a-half warning of the threat from the “far-Left”. Trump himself in the past described these groups as those that pose a bigger threat to the US than World War II, or the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Invitations for the conference were sent to foreign ministers and interior ministers of various countries, as reported by The Washington Post. In November 2025, the US State Department announced the designation of four European groups as “foreign terrorist organisations” (FTOs). These included German-based Antifa Ost, Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front, the Greek-based Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self-Defence.
This crackdown on “far-Left terrorism” in the US has worried American allies, as it has raised fears of Trump using counterterrorism tools to curb Left-wing activism domestically, the Post reported last week.
The visa restrictions announced by the State Department, are a part of a larger crackdown effort by the Trump administration on immigration. The same day the State Department issued its statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new rule on student visas in the country, as well as shortening validity of visas for foreign journalists in the country.
The DHS’ new rules have done away with the “duration of status” system that allowed foreign journalists to live and work in the US as long as they met the eligibility criteria. Under the new rules, the visa will be issued for a fixed period of time that can be extended.
Foreign journalists will now receive a fixed visa for 240 days, while Chinese journalists will receive a shorter period of 90 days. The change comes as a result of the continued reinvention of American immigration rules under Trump.
The decision to end the “duration of status” criteria will also impact foreign student visas in the country. New student visas (F visas) and exchange visits (J visas) will now be issued for a fixed period of time, which will not exceed a period of four years, according to the DHS.
Those who need a visa extension must apply directly to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Foreign students looking to apply for a change in visa status are now given only a 30-day grace period, down from the earlier 60-day limit.
These new rules are set to come into effect mid-September, after publication in the Federal Register. The rule could be rejected by the US Congress, but this is unlikely as the Congress has rarely rejected rule changes in the past. The changes are set to impact Indian students that remain one of the largest communities of foreign students in the US.
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