US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly ordered diplomats working overseas to scour the social media accounts of visa applicants suspected of critiquing the US and Israel.
Two American officials told The New York Times that the secretary sent out a long cable with instructions on 25 March, ordering consular officers to refer certain student and exchange visitor visa applicants to the “fraud prevention unit” for a “mandatory social media check”.
The details of the cable were initially reported by The Handbasket, which was shared with the publication.
The 1,700 word cable sets out the broad parameters the diplomats should follow to judge whether to issue or deny a visa, citing an interview Rubio did with CBS, where he said the US does not want people in the country “that are going to be committing crimes and undermining our national security or the public safety”.
Applicants they believe have connections with “terrorists” are those who held a student or exchange visa from 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas attacks, to 31 August 2024, or had their visa terminated from the date of the attacks to now.
“As part of screening every case for potential ineligibilities, consular officers MUST ADDRESS any derogatory information indicating that a visa applicant may be subject to the terrorism-related ineligibility grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),” the cable reportedly states.
“This includes advocating for, sympathizing with, or persuading others to endorse or espouse terrorist activities or support a DESIGNATED FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION (FTO).”
The cable references social media posts that “bears a hostile attitude toward U.S. citizens or U.S. culture” or “advocacy or sympathy for foreign terrorist organizations”.
Another section states the applicant does not need to express explicit support for terrorism but demonstrate “a degree of public approval or public advocacy for terrorist activity or a terrorist organization”.
The Handbasket said the cable does not specify what types of posts would be categorised as such but does contain instructions for taking screenshots of the applicants’ profiles and where to store them as evidence in their case files.
The diplomats are instructed to contact the Visa Office for review of current visa holders.
This comes as the US continues with its crackdown on pro-Palestine activism in the state through signing a series of executive orders aimed at deporting foreign nationals deemed to have “hostile attitudes”, as well as tackling what Trump calls antisemitism.
The orders include students who have taken part in pro-Gaza protests on campus, including Mahmoud Khalil, who currently faces deportation over his activism for Palestine.
Following the detainment of Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who called Israel’s war a genocide in an article, Rubio vowed to keep stripping visas of students.
Runio said he had cancelled over 300 visas, having personally signed off on every visa revocation.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Rubio order checks for Israel criticism from US visa applicants )
Also on site :