The Trump administration is maximizing its vetting of foreign nationals to protect national security and public safety, according to the State Department on Thursday.
NTD reached out to the State Department seeking confirmation of the internal memo and additional information.
“While we do not comment on purported internal documents, the Trump Administration is protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process. As Secretary Rubio said, 'a visa is a privilege, not a right,'” a State Department spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to NTD.
The internal memo stated that all applicants are instructed to change their social media settings to be “public” or “open." The new rule applies to foreign media representatives and qualified nationals from Mexico and Canada entering the United States for business as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), along with their dependents.
“The Department of State is screening and vetting to the maximum extent possible every foreign national seeking admission to the United States to ensure they will respect U.S. law including the terms of their admission and do not pose a threat to U.S. security, public safety, or national interests,” the State Department told NTD.
"The Department is constantly reviewing and evaluating screening and vetting procedures worldwide to ensure that our visa process upholds the highest standards for U.S. national security and public safety,” it added.
The Trump administration already requires enhanced social media screening for several categories of visa applicants, including student and exchange visitor visas (F, M, and J), H-1B temporary workers and certain dependents, religious workers (R visas), cultural exchange participants (Q visas), and witnesses, informants, and victims (S, T, and U visas), among others.
The Trump administration has expanded visa vetting alongside other immigration measures.
Recent actions include making permanent a visa bond program for certain B-1 and B-2 visa applicants from 50 designated countries, a policy the administration says is intended to reduce visa overstays. Critics argue these and other measures make legal immigration more difficult, while the administration maintains that they actually strengthen immigration enforcement and promote compliance with visa requirements.