(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) 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.”
The USCIS said it would immediately impact “aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students, and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.”
The “antisemitic activity” is a reference to pro-Palestine protests on college campuses that have been labeled “antisemitic” despite the fact that Jewish students and organizations have been involved in the demonstrations.
When screening social media activity, the Trump administration is likely using a definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel. In a 2019 executive order, which was referenced in the USCIS statement, President Trump directed all federal agencies to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and the organization’s list of examples of “contemporary antisemitism” when enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The IHRA’s examples of “contemporary antisemitism” includes “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” It also lists applying “double standards” to Israel by “requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” by “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is a proponent of the IHRA definition. Last year, when she was still South Dakota’s governor, she signed a bill into law that required the IHRA definition of antisemitism to be considered in investigations of unfair or discriminatory practices within the state.
Critics of the Trump administration’s announcement pointed out that even if some social media activity was considered antisemitic under a traditional definition of the word, it would still be protected speech under the First Amendment.
“As of today, DHS is making it official policy to surveil social media for ‘antisemitic’ sentiment and deport noncitizens accordingly,” Jenin Younes, a civil liberties attorney, wrote on X. “Keep in mind that the Trump Admin has re-defined antisemitism to include criticism of Israel and Zionism, but anyway true antisemitic speech, just like racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic & Islamophobic speech is 1A protected.”
Younes added that the US government “should have no role in policing social media for such speech & punishing the speakers.”
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
