The Trump administration is instructing immigration officers to deny green cards to applicants who have expressed political views it deems “antisemitic” or “anti-American,” including some forms of pro-Palestinian speech, JTA reported.
The new guidance, which was first reported by the New York Times, discourages officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from giving green cards to immigrants who have engaged in activities “endorsing, promoting or supporting anti-American views” or “antisemitic terrorism, ideologies or groups.”
The guidance, distributed last month, encouraged immigration officers to deny green cards to individuals who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests or posted criticism of Israel on social media. Officers were also told to “focus particularly on aliens who engaged in on-campus anti-American and antisemitic activities” after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and started the Gaza war.
The latest guidance follows an August announcement from USCIS that said the agency would begin vetting green card applicants for “anti-American” and “antisemitic” ideology. Earlier in the year, it said it would review the social media accounts of visa applicants, including international students, for what it defined as “antisemitic activity.”