The Obama administration is thinking about changing its immigrant vetting procedures to include social media posts.
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However, the shooter, Tashfeen Malik, entered the U.S.in mid-2014 on a K-1 visa, which are granted to those looking to marry USA citizens. Despite undergoing three separate background checks, immigration authorities reportedly failed to spot her postings when she applied for and obtained a K1, or fiance visa, when she moved to the USA from Pakistan.
Also on Tuesday, the House debated a bill that would require the Obama administration to evaluate and report on terrorists’ use of social media, and come up with ways to disrupt it.
Cohen said the disclosures by Edward Snowden about National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance policies fed concern of bad public relations that would affect the USA government’s standing with civil rights groups and European allies.
John Cohen, former appearing chief of DHS’ intelligence bureau, stated civil liberties and privateness considerations have given some DHS officers reservations about scrutinizing visa candidates’ social media posts. “We want to look at how our immigration process for a visa for a spouse broke down, that they didn’t notice the radicalisation”, Burr said on CBS.
According to authorities, Malik and Farook had exchanged messages about jihad and martyrdom online even before they were married and while she was still living in Pakistan.
Any review of public social media activity as a part of the visa process seems destined to snare only travelers posting political dissent about the United States – and potentially having an extremely chilling effect on free speech for those with business or family interests in the country.
“Had they checked out Tashfeen Malik a little bit more maybe she wouldn’t have gotten a visa”, said Senator Charles Schumer.
She added, “Additionally, we call on every Republican presidential candidate to publicly commit, during tonight’s debate in Las Vegas, that if elected they will reject this absurd policy and do everything in their power under the Constitution to ensure the safety and security of the people of the United States”.
According to a person with knowledge of the DHS plan, current pilot programs do not take into account all social media posts, meaning dragnet data collection is not now a factor for those applying for a US visa.
Legislators considered harnessing the power of social media to fight terrorism even before the December 2 shooting.
The pilot programs do not involve reading all social media posts, the Journal said, though government officials have not specified exactly what is analyzed in the process of trying to discover potential threats.
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It is unclear how quickly a new process could be implemented.
