WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration will immediately start considering “antisemitic activity” on social media and physical harassment of Jewish people as grounds for denying immigration benefits, according to a federal agency announcement on Wednesday.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin screening the social media activity of immigrants that request benefits, including those who apply for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and people affiliated with educational institutions “linked to antisemitic activity.” The guidance takes effect immediately, according to the release.
The announcement followed a notice last month about a Department of Homeland Security proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from Trump. The public and federal agencies had until May 5 to provide feedback.
The proposal notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the government’s reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally and not just those applying to enter the country. However, social media monitoring by immigration officials has been a practice for over a decade, since at least the second Obama administration and ramping up under Trump’s first term.
Wednesday’s announcement does not say what would be considered as “antisemitism” or identify the educational institutions. USCIS did not respond immediately to an Associated Press request for information.
Since Trump took office, there have been a growing number of attempted deportations against foreign-born students who joined pro-Palestinian protests or expressed criticism of Israel. Mahmoud Khalil, for example, was arrested last month and detained, with the administration saying it revoked his green card because his role in the campus protests amounted to antisemitic support for Hamas.
The agency said it will consider social media content that indicates “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor” when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.
When describing extremists and terrorist aliens, USCIS refers to those who support “antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations.” It names Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
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