The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday it will be screening migrants’ social media for antisemitism as potential grounds for denying citizenship.
The screenings will reportedly apply to people seeking permanent residence status in the United States and foreigners on student visas. In a statement on Wednesday morning, the DHS said that the policy will “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 [the Houthis].”
“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin.
"Effective immediately," DHS is surveilling the social media of millions of non-citizens to intimidate pro-Palestinian speech. pic.twitter.com/geUBiPMhJZ
— Eric Lee (@EricLeeAtty) April 9, 2025
The policy follows the recent detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a noncitizen here in the United States on a green card who, as Breitbart News reported, “began protesting Israel’s counter-offensive less than a week after Hamas launched its bloody and chaotic cross-border October 7 raid.”
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have denied the allegations of antisemitism and an immigration judge has given the Trump administration until Wednesday evening to provide evidence justifying his deportation.
“If he’s not removable, I don’t want him to continue to be detained,” Judge Jamee Comans said. “I will have him released.”
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, decried the DHS announcement as a resurrection of Joseph McCarthy.
“The spirit of Joseph McCarthy is alive and well in the Trump administration, which has spent months dishonestly mischaracterizing legitimate criticism of the Israeli government’s war crimes in Gaza as antisemitic, pursuing witch hunts into American colleges, and threatening the free speech rights of immigrants,” Mitchell told NPR.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has previously described immigration to the United States as a “privilege” that can be revoked for advocating violence and terrorism.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America,” Noem posted on X last month. “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
