Monday, December 14, 2015

"Immigration officials prohibited from looking at visa applicants' social media"

The Hill: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson decided against ending a secret U.S. policy that prohibits immigration officials from reviewing social media posts of foreigners applying for U.S. visas, according to a report by ABC News.

Johnson decided to keep the prohibition in place in early 2014 because he feared a civil liberties backlash and “bad public relations,” according to ABC.

“During that time period immigration officials were not allowed to use or review social media as part of the screening process,” John Cohen, a former acting undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security for intelligence and analysis, told ABC News.

The policy's revelation comes after U.S. officials learned that Tashfeen Malik, one of the San Bernardino shooters, posted a message on Facebook declaring allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria; 14 people were killed.

19 comments:

Methadras said...

Has this picture been made a meme yet?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Television Media apparently caught some flack, maybe from the White House? Because they were showing the terrorist with a head cover like a regular religion of peace adherent.

I'm reluctant to call her a Muslim since the term seems shrouded in mystery.

bagoh20 said...

Who needs ISIS when we have Homeland Security bureaucrats on our side.

Amartel said...

Foreigners seeking to enter the U.S. have more privacy, and other, rights than we do.

"Has this picture been made a meme yet?"
I don't know but I'm reasonably certain it will be part of a political campaign ad or two.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I bet you they have a secret program that looks at gun permit applicants social media.

If your name is Muhammad, you get a free pass.

Jim in St Louis said...

"On social media, Fehda Malik has made provocative comments of her own. In 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, she posted a remark on Facebook beside a photo of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center that could be interpreted as anti-American.... At the time Fehda Malik’s comment was posted, anti-American sentiment in Pakistan was particularly high; four months earlier, American commandos had secretly entered Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden."

Why can't NYT actually tell us what she said so we can see for ourselves if she was a radical Islamist? "that could be interpreted as anti-American" Well, what did she say?

Amartel said...

This is the Jamie Gorelick wall of separation policy all over again.
The wall of separation was meant to keep the CIA and the FBI from comparing notes and potentially invading the privacy of suspicious foreigners. Like Mohammed Atta, for example.
Both policies were designed to privilege foreigners with non-existent rights, for no apparent reason other than it would be in icky and in "bad taste." Both policies ended up costing the lives of American citizens.

ndspinelli said...

PC KILLS!!

ndspinelli said...

Good find, Lem. You beat Drudge.

edutcher said...

Weren't a couple of those 9/11 jetliners aimed at DC?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Good find, Lem. You beat Drudge.

Always keeping an eye on my twitter feed.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

kim guy ‏@kimmieguy 2 hours ago said...

how many video clips are there of govt officials touting ISIS "social media skills" and yet, they don't screen it for visas?

ampersand said...

That woman is wearing her headscarf backwards.

windbag said...

Good grief. Facebook is the first place I look when I get an application, since it's an accurate profile of who they are, what they're interested in, who their friends are, and what they're proud of.

Duh.

ndspinelli said...

windbag is correct. When I get a new case to investigate, Facebook is one of the fist sources I tap. It's funny, when caller ID became mainstream and people gave up land lines, it was a blow to gathering information by pretext phone calls. Then came Facebook and Twitter, GOLD MINES. It is investigative malpractice to not check social media. "Good enough for government work" comes to mind.

Amartel said...

Hell, I do social media searches on opposing parties and witnesses and I'm only an attorney.

rcocean said...

I'm willing to pay the price** for more San Bernidino;s as long as we don't get any demagogues in office.

I mean, we wouldn't want someone to stop terrorism would we?

**= and as long I personally don't get killed, just other people.

rcocean said...

Man, that women is almost as ugly as Rosie O'Donnell.

I'd be in favor of Burkina's if we could force women like Rosie to cover up.

ndspinelli said...

"I'm only an attorney" is a phrase many attorneys never utter. Amartel is my kind of barrister. Even though he went to Brown.