U.S. looks to scour foreign tourists’ social media : NPR

Passengers on an international flight enter customs and immigration screening at McCarran International Airport (now known as Harry Reid International Airport) in 2011. The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to collect social media information from tourists visiting the United States from countries that do not require visas.

Julie Jacobson/AP

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Julie Jacobson/AP

The Trump administration is proposing new rules that would further tighten its grip on who is allowed into the United States, asking visitors from several dozen visa-waiver countries to provide their social media history and other personal information.

The new conditions were revealed in a notice from the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week and are open to public comment and review for 60 days before taking effect.

The proposed measure applies to citizens of the 42 countries that belong to the visa waiver program and do not currently require a visa for tourist or business visits to the United States. These foreign citizens would now have to submit five years of social media activity to be considered for entry.

They would also have to provide the email addresses they have used in the past 10 years, as well as the phone numbers and home addresses of their immediate family members. Authorities could also examine the IP addresses and metadata of electronically submitted photos.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the mandatory social media requirement is designed to comply with President Trump’s January decision. decree “to protect its citizens from foreigners who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse a hateful ideology, or exploit immigration laws for malicious purposes.” However, they have not defined what type of online activity can pose a threat.

Under the current visa waiver program, tourists can bypass the visa application process, which can take months or even years. Instead, they pay $40 and submit an application online using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA. It is available to citizens of countries allied to the United States, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. But this system could also be subject to an overhaul if the latest changes come into force. The notice proposes eliminating online applications and moving to a mobile-only platform.

This is the latest step in the Trump administration’s escalating restrictions and surveillance of international travelers, foreign students and immigrants. In June, the State Department announced that it would begin review social media accounts of international students. Earlier this month, the department directed its staff to reject visa applications – primarily H-1B – from people who worked on fact-checkingcontent moderation or other activities, citing it as “censorship” of Americans’ speech.

These latest proposed changes aren’t that different from those already in place for visa applicants, Marissa Montes, a professor at Loyola Law School and director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic, told NPR.

“This has always been something that the government can ask for and has asked for in the past,” Montes said. “The question is how [ESTA applicants] be examined by the CPB? Will this be something they have to submit in advance or will it be an officer at the port of entry? We still don’t know how the administration plans to implement this. »

In the past, she said, such checks took place at the point of entry and “it has always been discretionary whether the officer wants to ask for it or not.”

Most troubling, Montes added, is that there are no explicit guidelines defining what is considered harmful in the United States.

“The problem is when it comes to immigration policy and directives like this, is that they are very broad and discretionary, meaning that the officer who receives this order has a lot of latitude to interpret what may be considered un-American,” she said. “But we’ve seen that it’s interpreted as anything that goes against the Trump administration or goes against a value of the Trump administration.”

Montes said she advises her clients to be careful not only about their own online posts, but also about posts they have liked, commented on and reposted, which may warrant denial or even a permanent ban from the United States. For example, if someone posts messages about casual drug use or photos of guns, they may be considered a potential threat to the government. She added that agents are also looking for positions that could be interpreted as pro-socialist or communist.

She cautions people not to completely eliminate their social media presence, saying it “becomes a red flag” to those responsible.

“Our immigration laws prohibit certain types of conduct based on immigration bias…so you really need to be careful about what you post,” she warned. “As I always tell my clients, if I can find the information, the government certainly can.”