U.S. Will Monitor Immigrants’ Social Media for ‘Antisemitic Activity’

The Washington Post

16:22 JST, April 11, 2025

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin screening immigrants’ social media accounts for antisemitic content as grounds to deny visa and green-card applications, the agency announced Wednesday – a move that immigration-law and free-speech experts said the government could use to target political speech it dislikes.

The guidance, effective immediately, affects immigrants applying for lawful permanent residence, foreign students and immigrants “affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity,” the agency said. Social media content that indicates an immigrant is “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity” will negatively impact their immigration application.

“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,” Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. 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.”

The announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a subagency within DHS that oversees the country’s immigration and naturalization systems, raised concern among experts that the policy is too vague and would rely heavily on the personal opinions of officials.

“The government already does a lot of screening of individuals seeking to enter the country,” said Tyler Coward, lead counsel for government affairs at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “But with this policy it seems to basically punish individuals for expressing political opinions.”

Homeland Security said in a statement that the new policy uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism: “A certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism has been cited by other Trump executive orders going back to his first term, though the definition’s author recently told NPR that the White House has abused it.

The Trump administration has orchestrated a sweeping crackdown on foreign nationals who have signaled pro-Palestinian political beliefs, often citing activity such as social media posts and campus protests as grounds for revoking noncitizens’ legal status. President Donald Trump has promised to deport international students he alleges are engaging in “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American” campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the administration has revoked more than 300 visas so far this year.

Last month, immigration agents arrested and revoked the green card of a lawful U.S. resident who had a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus. Weeks later, immigration agents detained a Tufts University student – and canceled her student visa – pointing to an op-ed she co-authored that supported the pro-Palestinian movement.

Immigration officials have utilized social media monitoring for more than a decade. The Trump administration last month issued a proposal, as part of one of Trump’s executive orders, to collect the social media profiles of people applying for immigration benefits such as green cards or citizenship.

But the latest policy leaves too much room for interpretation – and potential abuse, Coward said.

“When they say ‘antisemitic activity,’ a lot of activity can be considered protected expression because they’re not being particularly clear about what’s the interpretation of the word here,” Coward said. “I think what this does overall is create a chilling effect on speech.”

The Supreme Court has consistently upheld that the First Amendment and other rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution apply to all people within the country’s borders, not just citizens. But the high court has also sent mixed messages about how much of those rights apply within an immigration context, and immigration lawyers say it’s a murky area of law.

The policy also appears to move from vetting for security risks – such as criminal convictions or monetarily supporting terrorists – to policing ideas, experts said.

It’s “a big swing” for a country where free speech is safeguarded, Coward said. “We are a country where we just don’t punish people for expression. At least, we used to be.”

Many immigration applications are left up to the discretion of federal officials. But Wednesday’s policy appears to be a first, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration attorney and former professor at Cornell Law School.

“To the extent of my knowledge, this has not been done before on a broad scale, applying generally to people who have certain social media indicators that the Trump administration does not like,” Yale-Loehr said. “It’s part of a broader trend to go after international students that the Trump administration believes are pro-Palestine or advocate on behalf of Hamas.”

And it will affect more than just students, he added. “If you’re working for a company that espouses some of these [pro-Palestinian] beliefs that the administration doesn’t like, they can deny your application for a green card.”

The consequences will be severe for immigrants. When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denies an application based on its own discretion, “it’s very hard to overcome that. You have to try and litigate those, and that’s always time-consuming and expensive,” Yale-Loehr said.