On Wednesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would begin screening the social media activity of immigrants for “antisemitism” as part of the Trump administration’s broad crackdown on pro-Palestine speech.
The USCIS, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said it would start considering “aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests.”
Make no mistake—this coming mass surveillance won’t target just immigrants, but every internet user. Beyond its misleading conflation of American Jews with support for Israel’s policies, this measure sets a troubling precedent—restricting political speech under the guise of combating antisemitism while broadening unconstitutional surveillance. It undermines constitutional protections by (1) suppressing pro-Palestinian speech through an overly broad definition of antisemitism, violating First Amendment rights, and (2) expanding warrantless surveillance, eroding Fourth Amendment safeguards.
Related:
DHS to Begin Screening Aliens’ Social Media Activity for Antisemitism
WASHINGTON— Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin considering aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. This will immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.
Consistent with President Trump’s executive orders on Combatting Anti-Semitism, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism and Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, DHS will enforce all relevant immigration laws to the maximum degree, to protect the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: “the Houthis.”
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