Immigration authorities on Wednesday outlined a proposal seeking to access and review the social media accounts of any person applying for citizenship, residency or asylum in the U.S., in a move that they argue is necessary to comply with one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed a new rule to review social media accounts of all ... [+]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—which handles visa approvals, citizenship applications and asylum requests—outlined the social media monitoring policy proposal on the Federal Register Wednesday.
The proposal notes that the USCIS conducted a review of the information it collects for applications and the agency “identified the need to collect social media identifiers…from applicants.”
The agency said this information would help them to carry out “identity verification, national security and public safety screening, and vetting, and related inspections.”
The USCIS argues that collecting this data is necessary to comply with a day one executive order issued by Trump, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”
The proposal has been opened for public comments for the next 60 days.
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The executive order, which Trump signed on his first day in office, notes that it intends to protect U.S. citizens from “aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.” The USCIS argues that the social media data collection is necessary to fulfill section 2 of the order, titled “Enhanced Vetting and Screening Across Agencies.” The section calls for ensuring that “all aliens seeking admission to the United States, or who are already in the United States, are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” and establish a “uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures.” In its proposal notice, the USCIS says social media information is necessary for “establishing enhanced screening and vetting standards” and “help validate an applicant's identity.”
3.57 million. That is the total number of applicants who will be impacted by this move, according to USCIS’ estimates. The agency notes that processing this additional information will require roughly 285,999 hours of work from its staffers but it would add “no additional costs to the public.”
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