The Trump administration’s proposal to vet the social media profiles of green card applicants who are already legally present in the United States has been criticized as an attack on free speech.
Visa applicants living abroad are already required to share their social media handles with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, but President Donald Trump’s proposal would extend the policy to those who are already legally in the country and applying for permanent residency or asylum.
USCIS stated that vetting social media accounts is necessary for “improved identity verification, vetting, and national security screening.”
The agency also stated that it was necessary to comply with President Trump’s executive order, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”
“In a review of information collected for admission and benefit decisions, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) identified the need to collect social media identifiers (‘handles’) and associated social media platform names from applicants to enable and help inform identity verification, national security and public safety screening, and vetting, and related inspections,” the agency said on March 5, 2017.
The agency is collecting public feedback on the proposal until May 5, the majority of which is strongly opposed at the time of writing.
“So the US is heading for authoritarianism now,” an anonymous commenter said. “Anything that the current administration dislikes is bad. Pure ideology equals total destruction. “This is a violation of the First Amendment.”
“Chilling Effect on Free Speech: The fear of government scrutiny of online expression will undoubtedly stifle free speech,” a different remark said. “This is particularly concerning for individuals from countries with different political climates, who may fear the misinterpretation of their online activity.”
Among the 143 comments, 29 mentioned a violation of free speech. “This policy undermines the fundamental values that make America a beacon of freedom, including free speech, privacy, and human rights,” a third individual wrote.
The proposal comes after the Trump administration detained green card holder Mahmoud Khalil, labeled “pro-Hamas,” and deported Brown University doctor Rasha Alawieh, who holds an H1-B visa. U.S.
Customs and Border Protection officials examined the kidney medic’s phone and determined she adhered to the religious teachings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. They also claimed she “openly admitted” going to his funeral while in Lebanon.
Civil rights groups have expressed concern that the policy proposal will disproportionately affect critics of Israel and the US government’s handling of the conflict.
“This policy would have a disparate impact on Muslim and Arab applicants seeking US citizenship who have expressed support for Palestinian human rights,” Robert McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Intercept. “Collecting the social media identifiers of any potential green card applicants or citizens is the means to silencing their lawful speech.”
McCaw also expressed concern that people’s social media activity would be continuously monitored, even if they became US citizens.
According to the Washington Post, the new proposal comes as the Internal Revenue Service is close to reaching an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow officials to use confidential tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people they suspect of illegal immigration.
According to insiders, ICE may submit names of suspected illegal immigrants to the IRS so that the agency can cross-reference them against confidential taxpayer databases.
The agreement has “alarmed” career IRS officials who are concerned that it will abuse a privacy law designed to build criminal cases rather than enforce criminal penalties, according to the newspaper.
In addition to mass deportations, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has recently targeted green card and visa holders.
Earlier this month, Fabian Schmidt, a 34-year-old German electrical engineer with a green card since 2008, was arrested and detained at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
A Milwaukee mother, who has been a permanent resident of the United States since she was eight months old, was deported to Laos, a country she had never visited before, after accepting a plea deal on cannabis charges.
