JCPA Responds to DHS Social Media Screening Policy for Immigrants

On April 9, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will begin screening the social media activity of applicants for lawful permanent resident status and foreign students for antisemitic content. 

In response to this announcement, Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the JCPA, sent the following letter to Secretary Kristi Noem asking a number of questions about this policy and how it will be implemented:

Dear Secretary Noem:  

I am writing regarding this week’s announcement that applicants for lawful permanent resident status and foreign students will have their social media screened by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for “antisemitic activity.” 

Make no mistake: the threat of antisemitism is real and rising in the United States and around the globe.  

At the same time, this new policy raises significant questions as to how it will be applied — particularly as many in the Jewish community have already expressed deep concerns about how our legitimate fears of antisemitism are being used as the pretext to advance policies that undermine rights such as due process and our core democratic norms, which ultimately threatens the safety of Jews and all communities. 

We would be grateful for your answers to the following questions: 

• • How will the USCIS determine whether a social media post is considered to be antisemitic?  

To date, the administration has been focused on antisemitism from the political left and on university campuses; at the same time, it has cut programs and resources dedicated to monitoring and countering white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and anti-government antisemitism and extremism — such as the extremism that inspired the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh. 

According to data released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in February this year, “All the extremist-related murders in 2024 were committed by right-wing extremists of various kinds, with eight of the 13 killings involving white supremacists and the remaining five having connections to far-right anti-government extremists. This is the third year in a row that right-wing extremists have been connected to all identified extremist-related killings.”  

This finding echoes the conclusion of President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security which, in its October 2020 “Homeland Threat Assessment”, found that domestic violent extremists were “the most persistent and lethal threat” in the United States.  

Will “antisemitic activity” also include such extremism? 

• • The announcement states that “aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity” will be denied entry. How is that affiliation being defined? Does there have to be antisemitic activity on the applicant’s part, or is merely attending a university where someone else espoused antisemitism enough to be denied entry? 

• • What other affiliations will be considered? In addition to the groups named (such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and Ansar Allah), are neo-Nazi or white supremacist groups being factored in? 

• • Given the potential for extensive social media posts by applicants, which search terms or tools will be utilized by USCIS? 

• • Who exactly will be making these determinations? Will there be a clear and transparent process with well-defined criteria for denial of entry, and public reporting on the number of individuals denied entry and the reasons why? 

• • Will every applicant for permanent resident status be screened, or only those from certain countries? 

• • Will engaging in other forms of hate — such as racism, anti-Muslim prejudice, anti-LGBTQ hatred, or misogyny — also preclude entry? 

Thank you for your timely consideration of these questions. We look forward to your response.  

Sincerely,   

Amy Spitalnick
CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs