On April 9, 2025, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced that it will begin scrutinizing social media activity for antisemitic content and incidents involving the physical harassment of Jewish individuals. Such activity may now serve as a negative discretionary factor when adjudicating immigration benefit applications.
This policy is effective immediately and will impact a wide range of applicants, including those seeking lawful permanent residency (green cards), foreign students, and individuals affiliated with academic institutions identified as being connected to antisemitic behavior.
According to the USCIS announcement, ‘Antisemitic’ activity will be construed as any individual who supports antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: “the Houthis.”
This guidance applies across a broad category of immigration-related matters, particularly:
Under the new guidance, USCIS officers will consider online behavior—particularly content that appears to endorse, espouse, promote, or support antisemitic terrorism, terrorist organizations with antisemitic ideologies, or other antisemitic actions—as a factor in evaluating whether to grant discretionary immigration benefits.
This includes but is not limited to:
USCIS has implemented its previously announced Alien Registration Requirement, effective April 11. In accordance with this new requirement, some foreign nationals will now be required to register online with the Department of Homeland Security, in addition to submitting to biometric data collection and additional background checks. For additional information related to this new requirement, please see our Vialto Partners Alert of March 6 or reach out to our team via the contact information below.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Manish Daftari
Partner
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