On April 9, 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued guidance stating that it will begin considering individuals’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. According to the news release, “[t]his will immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.”
Under this guidance, USCIS will consider social media content that indicates that a non-citizen endorses, espouses, promotes or supports antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefits. This guidance took effect immediately on April 9.
This guidance stems from President Trump’s executive orders on Combatting Anti-Semitism (issued in 2019), Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism and Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorist and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats (both issued in 2025). To effectuate the directives of these executive orders, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stated that it will enforce the existing “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 and Ansar Allah aka: ‘the Houthis.’” Hamas and Hezbollah were designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) in 1997, Palestinian Islamic Jihad in 2014 and the Houthis in March 2025.
Under U.S. immigration law, both the USCIS and DOS have the authority to deny immigration benefits, including the issuance of a visa, entry into the United States, and permanent resident status, if a foreign national applicant has engaged in, among other things, various types of unlawful conduct or crimes or is a member of, or has assisted, any terrorist or other armed organization or is otherwise suspected of intending to do, or, having done, those things. For decades, any foreign national who has completed a visa application or a permanent residence application is asked many questions concerning their past, present and future activities, including whether they are terrorists and/or are members of, or have provided or intend to aid terrorist organizations. For example, the Form DS-160, the nonimmigrant visa application form used by foreign nationals to apply for a visa to enter the United States, includes the following questions:
- Do you seek to engage in terrorist activities in the United States or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities?
- Have you ever or do you intend to provide financial assistance or other support to terrorists or terrorist organizations?
- Have you ever committed, ordered, incited, assisted or otherwise participated in extrajudicial killings, political killings or other acts of violence?
Although affirmative answers (without sufficient ameliorating explanation(s)) will likely result in denial of the immigration benefit being sought or requested, lying about such activities will also result in denial or revocation of the benefit.
For the past decade, starting with a 2015 pilot program, USCIS has monitored and screened applicants’ social media accounts in connection with their applications for immigration benefits. In 2016, President Obama established the Social Media Division within the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate of USCIS, which is responsible for identifying, reviewing, vetting and adjudicating cases involving national security concerns. The Social Media Division conducts social media screenings of applicants for immigration benefits to identify security risks and to detect fraud. Presumably, the Social Media Division will also be tasked with monitoring the activities described in this April 9th guidance issued by the USCIS.
Takeaways
Scrutiny of social media accounts for national security purposes, including the identification of terrorists and support for terrorist activity, has been a part of the visa application and immigration benefits vetting process since the Obama Administration. The issuance of this guidance is a reminder that such monitoring occurs and that negative determinations on immigration applications may occur if social media accounts and posts reveal support for antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies or antisemitic terrorist organizations.
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