President Donald Trump’s administration wants to force people in the U.S. applying for green cards or citizenship to fork over their social media handles, in a move with far-reaching implications as the government cracks down on pro-Palestine activists.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, which oversees naturalization and immigration, earlier this month proposed requesting social media names from people in the U.S. who apply for asylum, permanent residency, or naturalization, expanding a policy that used to only target people living abroad applying for visas.
The proposal references Trump’s day-one executive order laying the groundwork for a new Muslim travel ban, which also asked federal agencies to identify immigrants in the U.S. who hold “hostile attitudes” toward the government.
“This policy would disparately impact Muslim and Arab applicants seeking U.S. citizenship.”
The shift would affect an estimated 3.5 million people per year — some of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades.
In light of Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil’s ongoing detention, one official from a Muslim civil rights group said the new policy poses special danger for critics of Israel and the Trump administration.
“This policy would disparately impact Muslim and Arab applicants seeking U.S. citizenship that have voiced support for Palestinian human rights,” said Robert McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Collecting the social media identifiers of any potential green card applicants or citizens is the means to silencing their lawful speech.”
