Homeland security said it was specifically reviewing policies on when authorities at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services could look at social media posts as part of the vetting process for would-be immigrants applying for certain visas.
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“The Department of Homeland Security has been, at the direct order of the president of the United States, has been working with the State Department to review the K1 Visa program, and they’ve acknowledged that part of that review is to consider ways to incorporate the use of social media vetting in their screening programs”, Earnest told reporters.
One problem with this policy is the sheer number posts officials would have to trawl through; the USA government approved more than 9.9 million visa applications during the 2014 budget year, which makes for a lot of social media content.
Reforming the visa screening process has become a priority in Washington, where the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have both said they are considering tighter scrutiny of applicants’ social media activity.
The Times stated Malik’s Facebook messages point out for the primary time that D.R. regulation enforcement and intelligence officers missed warnings on social media that she was a possible menace earlier than she utilized for her D.J. visa.
According to one of the federal officials, the Facebook messages are considered to be Malik’s private correspondence to a small group of her friends in Pakistan and that they were the only ones to receive them.
The senators are asking Johnson to hand over any plans to include social media in the vetting process for all visas, and also to clarify whether there are any technological barriers to including social media in vetting.
“It’s outrageous that this isn’t already done, and had they checked Tashfeen Malik a little more, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten a visa”.
Farook, the U.S.-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Malik, a Pakistani native he married past year in Saudi Arabia, were killed in a shootout with police hours after the assault in San Bernardino, 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles.
Even this in itself is not a bone of contention as further investigations have revealed that the wife Tashfeen Malik made posts on her social media account in the past openly advocating her jihadists views. It is not clear how that policy has been in place, but John Cohen, a former high-ranking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official and now a consultant for ABC News, says that the matter was last brought up for review in 2014.
Agents said they were under pressure from the Obama administration not to look too deeply into people’s social media accounts due to privacy and civil liberties concerns. John McCain, R-Ariz., has drafted similar legislation to require DHS to review social media posts in background checks.
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The Virginia Republican said the bill would address the “fiancée visa” that allowed San Bernardino killer Tashfeen Malik to enter the country.
