Trump administration ‘immediately’ reviewing immigrants’ social media accounts

Immigration authorities will screen for perceived ‘antisemitic activity’ when considering benefits

Donald Trump’s administration is “immediately” reviewing immigrants’ social media accounts for what it considers “antisemitic activity” that could be used as evidence to deny them legal status in the United States.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is “considering” what it calls “antisemitic activity on social media” as well as “the physical harassment of Jewish individuals” when reviewing immigration benefit requests, according to Wednesday’s memo.

“This will immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity,” according to the agency.

Demonstrators in New York demanded the release of Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after he was arrested and threatened with deportation for pro-Palestine campus activism the Trump administration claims is antisemitic and a threat to national security (EPA)

The agency will review “social media content that indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor,” the agency said. The guidance is “effective immediately.”

The directive follows a series of high-profile arrests and deportation threats as well as the revocation of student visas for hundreds of international students and student activists over their advocacy for Palestine.

The Trump administration has zeroed in on campus activism at prestigious universities, where Israel’s war in Gaza has provoked a wave of demonstrations and protest encampments demanding an end to U.S. support for Israel’s devastation.

Trump signed two executive orders that critics fear are being used to chill speech in support of Gaza and Palestine by conflating demonstrations with antisemitism and support for Hamas.

One declares U.S. policy to “ensure” noncitizens “do not … advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.” A fact sheet for another executive order pledges “immediate action” to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities” with a promise to “deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas.”

Wednesday’s directive follows a similar measure at the State Department that was rolled out last month.

A cable sent to consulates around the world calls for a review of social media for foreign students and student exchange visitors. The cable also suggested visas could be denied for perceived “hostile attitudes” towards the United States.

On March 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 300 student visas have been revoked under that criteria.

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Wednesday.