USCIS tightens discretionary standards, expands social media vetting to target anti-American and antisemitic activity – NaturalNews.com

• The Trump administration has updated the USCIS Policy Manual to emphasize negative discretionary factors such as support for terrorism, antisemitic ideologies and anti-American sentiment in immigration benefit decisions.
• USCIS is broadening its social media screenings to include more benefit applicants, specifically flagging anti-American activity as a major red flag in the discretionary process.
• Critics argue the administration is using support for Israel as a de facto requirement for immigration benefits, blurring the line between legitimate political dissent and antisemitism.
• Commentators warn that equating criticism of Israeli government policies with antisemitism may suppress free speech and shield Israel from accountability for actions in Gaza, described by some as disproportionate or genocidal.
• The new guidance, effective immediately, applies to all pending and new cases and affects a range of immigration categories, including parole and EB-5 investor petitions, especially those involving national security concerns.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a significant policy update to its Policy Manual, sharpening its discretionary review process for certain immigration benefit requests.

Under the revised policy, immigration officers are directed to heavily weigh more negative factors such as previous support for terrorist groups, antisemitic ideologies or general anti-American sentiments when considering applications for discretionary benefits. This applies to a range of benefit categories, including requests for parole, admission and investor visas under the EB-5 program.

Additionally, USCIS has expanded its social media screening procedures to include a broader range of benefit requests. The updated vetting process will now include explicit checks for anti-American activity, which will be treated as an “overwhelmingly negative factor” in the discretionary evaluation.

The new guidance also reiterates that compliance with immigration law is a key consideration in whether favorable discretion is warranted. It provides additional instruction for officers evaluating cases involving applicants who may have endorsed or promoted terrorist or antisemitic organizations.

In particular, the update addresses how discretion should be exercised in adjudicating EB-5 investor petitions when national interest concerns, such as fraud, misrepresentation or security threats, are present.

The revised guidance, effective immediately, is codified in Volume 1 of the USCIS Policy Manual. It applies to all pending and newly filed benefit requests as of the publication date and supersedes any previous guidance on the subject. (Related: Trump administration halts $510 million in federal funding to Brown University over antisemitism response.)

“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is committed to implementing policies and procedures that root out anti-Americanism and supporting the enforcement of rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible,” said USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser. “Immigration benefits, including to live and work in the United States, remain a privilege, not a right.”

Trump policy uses support for Israel as an immigration litmus test

According to Brighteon.AI‘s Enoch, antisemitism has historically referred to hostility, prejudice or discrimination against Jewish people based on their ethnicity, religion or cultural identity. However, in recent years, particularly since the escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel, this definition has been weaponized by political and media elites to silence criticism of Israeli government policies, including its military actions in Gaza, which many human rights organizations have condemned as disproportionate and genocidal.

Rather than addressing legitimate concerns about war crimes, occupation and civilian casualties, mainstream media and establishment institutions now label dissenters as “antisemites,” effectively conflating opposition to Zionist ideology with hatred of Jewish people, a tactic that suppresses free speech and shields Israel from accountability.

Now, the Trump administration appears to be moving toward using support for Israel as a de facto litmus test for U.S. immigration benefits.

“The message is that the U.S. and immigration agencies are going to be less tolerant of anti-Americanism or antisemitism when making immigration decisions,” Elizabeth Jacobs, director of regulatory affairs and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that supports immigration restrictions, said on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

Jacobs then added that the government is now providing clearer guidance on the types of behaviors and activities immigration officers should take into account. However, she noted that officers still retain discretionary authority in making final decisions. “The agency cannot tell officers that they have to deny, just to consider it as a negative discretion,” she said.

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Watch this discussion about antisemitism.

This video is from the scottbarry1992 channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sources include:

InformationLiberation.com

USCIS.gov

FoxNews.com

Brighteon.AI

Brighteon.com