Topline

On Wednesday, immigration officials announced a plan to check the social media accounts
of everyone applying for citizenship, residency, or asylum in the United States. They claim
this measure is needed to follow one of President Trump's executive orders on immigration.

Key Facts

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – the agency handling visa
approvals, citizenship applications, and asylum requests – published this social media
monitoring proposal in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

According to the proposal, USCIS reviewed what information it currently collects from
applicants and "identified the need to collect social media identifiers" from people applying
for immigration benefits.

The agency claims this information would help them perform "identity verification, national
security and public safety screening, and vetting, and related inspections."

USCIS argues that gathering this data is necessary to comply with Trump's day-one
executive order, "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National
Security and Public Safety Threats."

The public has 60 days to comment on this proposal.