By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Social media accounts of immigrants will henceforth determine whether applicants are eligible to obtain US visas, immigration authorities announced on Wednesday, warning that individuals who post content considered anti-Semitic by President Donald Trump’s administration will be denied entry into the US.
Posts defined as anti-Semitic include social media activity in support of militant groups classified by the United States as terrorists, including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Huthi insurgents.
The move comes after the Trump administration controversially cancelled visas for students inside the United States, where the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-Semitic violence and terrorism — think again. You are not welcome here,” department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services “will consider social media content that indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting or supporting anti-Semitic terrorism, anti-Semitic terrorist organisations or other anti-Semitic activity as a negative factor” in determining benefits, the statement said.
The policy will take immediate effect and apply to student visas and requests for permanent resident “green cards” to remain in the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late last month that he had stripped visas from around 300 individuals and was doing so on a daily basis.
Rubio stated that non-US citizens do not have the same rights as Americans and that it was at his discretion, not that of judges, to issue or deny visas, AFP reported.
A number of individuals stripped of visas contend that they never expressed antipathy towards Jews, with some claiming they were targeted simply for being present at protest locations.
The most high-profile deportation case is Mahmoud Khalil, who led protests at Columbia University in New York. He was also taken to Louisiana ahead of deportation proceedings, despite being a US permanent resident.
The Trump administration has also stripped millions of dollars in federal funding from leading universities, with officials stating that they failed to respond adequately to anti-Semitism during protests that erupted over the Gaza war.
