Rubio orders social media checks on visa applicants critical of US, Israel: Report

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed American diplomats to scrutinize the social media activity of certain visa applicants to bar those suspected of criticizing the US and Israel, according to a report Tuesday.

The directive, issued in a March 25 cable to diplomatic missions, mandates that consular officers refer some student and exchange visitor visa applicants to the "fraud prevention unit" for a mandatory social media check, the New York Times reported, citing two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The order follows a series of executive actions by President Donald Trump aimed at deporting foreign nationals deemed to have "hostile attitudes" toward the US, including a crackdown on what he called antisemitism, which led to the deportation of foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

The Times report suggests the directive is aimed at rejecting applicants who have expressed support for Palestinians during Israel's brutal offensive. The cable specifies that applicants can be denied a visa if their behavior or online activity reflects a "hostile attitude toward U.S. citizens or U.S. culture (including government, institutions, or founding principles)."

Rubio has aggressively enforced the policy, revoking over 300 visas, many belonging to students.

"We give you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses," he told reporters last week.

"If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa participate in that sort of activity, we're going to take away your visa," he added.

The directive has led to the detention and deportation of some foreign nationals.

Rumeysa Öztürk, 30, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University and a Fulbright scholar, was arrested by masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last week near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts while heading to an iftar dinner to break her fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A viral video captured the moment of her detention, showing masked individuals handcuffing her and forcibly taking away her phone in broad daylight.

Authorities claim she engaged in activities supporting the Palestinian group Hamas—an allegation her family and advocates strongly deny. Her lawyer and family believe she was targeted over an op-ed she co-authored in The Tufts Daily, in which she urged the university to acknowledge what she described as the Palestinian genocide and divest from companies linked to Israel. The article led to her being featured on Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that blacklists pro-Palestinian students and activists.

Asked about the report, a State Department spokesperson refused to comment on internal deliberations or communications.

"In 2019, the Department of State began requiring visa applicants to provide social media identifiers on immigrant and nonimmigrant visa application forms," the spokesperson told Anadolu.