The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will begin collecting social media handles of foreigners seeking visas, a policy change that immigration attorneys said could provide a rich trove of intelligence for federal investigators.
New rules released Thursday by the department mean foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim nations will be required to supply the social media account names they use on such platforms as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as any phone numbers they might have. The information, once submitted, will be kept in a database indefinitely, though U.S. citizens who apply for visas will be exempt.
“There’s been much talk about foreign influence in U.S. elections and recent leaks of U.S. persons data by an anonymous source, as well as the use of social media by extremist organizations and individuals,” Paul Bellisario, acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, told reporters Thursday. “These steps are taken to better protect our nation and ensure the integrity of our immigration system.”
The new rules will take effect in 60 days.
Immigration attorneys said the new requirements will likely provide a rich trove of personal data for federal investigators, and could exacerbate racial, ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim immigrants. The attorneys said the new requirements will do little to screen or prevent terrorists from entering the United States.
“It’s a real waste of time and energy for many people who will be very, very angry,” attorney Danielle Cutrona said. “This isn’t what I think is going to be the solution to radicalization of radical groups.”
More than 9 million people sought visas or green cards in fiscal 2017, according to a 2015 report by the Government Accountability Office. That included more than 1 million who sought green cards for permanent U.S. residency and another 6.5 million who filed applications for nonimmigrant visas, such as temporary business or tourist visas, a spokeswoman for the State Department told NBC News.
The new policy applies only to aliens seeking visas for the U.S.
A USCIS spokesman confirmed that the department will begin collecting social media data of those applying for visas or green cards in fiscal year 2018.
Law enforcement, the director of national intelligence and the secretary of Homeland Security have called for the collection of social media handles and cellphone numbers, with a focus on Muslims.
In a 2015 speech, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said such technology "changes the game."
The White House said in a statement Thursday that requiring additional data is a common-sense step to keep terrorists out of the U.S. and ensure the nation's immigration system does not facilitate terrorism.
But privacy advocates said the new rules will exacerbate racial and religious profiling of Muslim immigrants, putting the sensitive information into federal databases.
“This is an extraordinarily intrusive amount of information and it's going to be very sensitive,” said Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “There’s a history of abuse and misuse with data of this type.”
“I can’t even imagine what would be in there, in the files,” Tien added.
Census data show there are some 1.8 billion Muslims in the world. There are about 12 million Muslims in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. Of the five largest Muslim populations outside the U.S., only the Pakistani community is larger than the one inside it.
A State Department spokesman said the agency is working on a plan to implement the new rules and has asked for the assistance of the privacy and civil society teams to develop it.
“We are developing a program and policy for collecting and managing social media and other publicly available social media handles, where available, from the seven countries named in this rule,” the spokesman said. “We plan to have the system implemented as soon as possible.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new rules apply to foreign nationals seeking green cards, certain nonimmigrant visas and waivers of inadmissibility. Law enforcement agents are authorized to request information about a person’s name, passport number, visa type and alien registration number, according to the department.
Attorneys said the changes will lead to delays and headaches for those seeking visas. They say the new procedures will likely prevent many people from getting visas — and they say that includes Muslim immigrants seeking a pathway to citizenship.
“I do know people who are in that category,” lawyer David Leopold said. “It’s very hard for them to explain to the USCIS and DOS what their name is and what their social media is. They’re afraid.”
In April, NBC News and The Intercept reported on an internal report by a top spy agency that concluded that the U.S. intelligence community had missed warning signs ahead of attacks by the Islamic State in the U.S. and other countries, partly because federal authorities relied on too many unverified pieces of information.
And in July 2017, a federal court ordered the government to turn over documents on its terrorism database after it was learned that a former DHS employee had developed an algorithm to identify green card holders who posed a terrorism risk by looking at social media, court documents show.
Meanwhile, a State Department official told Congress in June that the department’s security review of visa applicants for terrorism was now at a record high. The official said the visa process had become more difficult after the 9/11 attacks, but no changes had been made to help immigrants navigate the process.
One U.S. intelligence official told NBC News Thursday that "a lot of" the information the department will be gathering will never be shared with other law enforcement agencies and has no nexus to national security.
“What they're going to find out is a goldmine for them,” the source said. “They’re going to have a wealth of information on people that they will never look at again. The only problem is that most of that information will never be passed along to any other law enforcement agency. It doesn’t do anything for the country and it doesn’t do anything to prevent terrorism.”
In addition to visas, the new requirements are also designed to screen people who overstay their visas. Lawyers said overstays often live in the country illegally and tend to live in poor neighborhoods.
“It’s hard to find the needles in the haystack to deport them,” Tien said.
The lawyer said the rules will
