Government Monitoring of Immigrants’ Social Media

As part of an effort to enhance screening measures, the White House has announced it will require millions of immigrants seeking benefits ranging from green cards to citizenship to provide social media information on their immigration applications.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register on March 5, 2025, detailing plans to collect social media identifiers (“handles”) on nine immigration forms to comply with Executive Order 14161, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025.

According to the notice, USCIS will collect social media handles (but not passwords) to verify applicants’ identities and to assess whether granting immigration benefits might pose security or public safety risks.

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The new requirement will apply to nine forms, including:

• N-400 (Application for Naturalization)
• I-131 (Application for Travel Document)
• I-192 (Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Nonimmigrant)
• I-485 (Application for Adjustment of Status)
• I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal)
• I-590 (Registration for Classification as Refugee)
• I-730 (Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition)
• I-751 (Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence)
• I-829 (Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status)

USCIS estimates this proposal would affect over 3.5 million applicants annually. The public has 60 days to submit comments on the proposal via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (Docket ID USCIS-2025-0003). After the comment period, DHS will review feedback before deciding whether to implement the rule as proposed, modify it, or withdraw it.

USCIS Social Media Monitoring: A Decade of Expanding Surveillance

For years, officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have been checking social media accounts to look for immigration fraud across various application types, from family-based petitions to employment visas and naturalization applications.

The formal history of USCIS social media monitoring shows a clear evolution:

• 2016: USCIS established a dedicated Social Media Division within its Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS), marking the beginning of institutionalized social media vetting.
• 2017: The Trump administration implemented “extreme vetting” procedures in March, intensifying the scrutiny of visa applications, including more thorough examination of applicants’ social media. In September, DHS issued a Federal Register notice indicating it would collect and keep information from social media on all individuals passing through the U.S. immigration system.
• 2019: The Department of State began requiring all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles as part of forms DS-160 (Nonimmigrant Visa Application) and DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Electronic Application).
• 2021: The scope of monitored platforms expanded to include not only major U.S.-based social media platforms but also international platforms from China and Russia.
• 2025: With the latest Executive Order 14161 signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025, USCIS is now formalizing and expanding social media data collection to nine different immigration forms.

Law enforcement, however, has always been free to use social media as part of investigations of both threats and crimes.

Social Media Monitoring and Immigration Applications

USCIS officers and consular officials often use social media to confirm the legitimacy of relationships and claims made in applications. This can include checking the consistency between online activity and information provided in forms and searching for any content that might contradict statements made during the application process.

Concerns About Government Overreach

The recent USCIS announcement has reignited debates about mass surveillance of immigrants and indiscriminate collection of private data, as opposed to one-time checks of social media accounts as part of a specific visa application.

One of the biggest causes of concern is that even naturalized U.S. citizens could be subject to continual government surveillance. DHS has denied these claims, but stated it will keep any social media information it collected before an individual becomes a U.S. citizen. For example, if you became a naturalized citizen in 1988, DHS would not have a social media file on you. However, if you became a naturalized citizen in 2017, DHS might have social media information in your file until you became a citizen.

According to the 2025 proposed rule, USCIS would use social media data for “enhanced identity verification, vetting and national security screening, and inspection.” The agency also states this information would help “determine whether such grant of a benefit poses a security or public-safety threat to the United States.”

Throughout the implementation of social media monitoring, the U.S. government has consistently framed it as essential for national security and immigration integrity. The practice is justified primarily as a means of verifying applicants’ identities and the information provided in their applications, ensuring consistency between stated facts and online behavior.

There is still uncertainty about how DHS chooses and stores the information it collects, but the agency has stated that it will include search results (which could include the content of social media posts), social media handles, aliases, and “associated information” in an immigrant’s file. It would not be unreasonable to assume that just about everything visible to the public on social media is fair game for DHS to collect and save.

What Information Is USCIS Looking For?

USCIS uses social media monitoring to uncover several types of information during the immigration process:

1. Fraud detection: Officers look for discrepancies between your social media activity and the information provided in your application.
2. Security threats: Any content suggesting connections to terrorist organizations, extremist views, or threats to public safety.
3. Relationship verification: For family-based applications, USCIS examines social media to confirm the authenticity of claimed relationships.
4. Employment verification: Officers may check LinkedIn and other platforms to verify your work history, qualifications, and employment status.
5. Identity verification: Social media helps confirm that you are who you claim to be in your application.
6. Character assessment: Content that reflects poorly on your moral character or shows unlawful activities.
7. Immigration violations: Posts indicating unauthorized employment or other visa violations.
8. Overall consistency: Whether information across different platforms aligns with your application.

Immigration authorities are trained to examine social media content that is relevant to the adjudication of immigration benefits. When potentially relevant information is identified, it may be presented to applicants during interviews, included in requests for evidence, or documented in the applicant’s file. If the information contradicts statements made in immigration applications or suggests eligibility issues, it may result in a Notice of Intent to Deny or other adverse actions.

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Are There Legal Protections for Social Media Privacy?

When it comes to immigration-related social media monitoring, applicants should understand that U.S. privacy laws offer limited protection. The current landscape includes:

Federal Protections:

• No comprehensive federal law specifically protects social media privacy
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can only take action against companies that violate their own privacy policies
• Existing federal privacy laws focus primarily on financial institutions and healthcare, not social media

State Protections:

• California leads with stronger digital privacy legislation
• Other states like Virginia, Colorado, and Texas have enacted similar but more limited protections
• Many state laws protect employees from employers demanding social media access, but these protections don’t extend to government agencies like USCIS

For immigration applicants, this fragmented legal landscape means that publicly available social media content has very few privacy protections when it comes to immigration screening. While USCIS generally cannot access private messages without a warrant, they have broad authority to review public posts and may use various methods to access content that was once public but later made private or deleted.

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What Social Media Posts Are Most Likely to Raise Concerns?

Immigration officers are particularly alert to certain types of content that may negatively impact your application:

1. Evidence of criminal activity: Posts showing drug use, excessive drinking, dangerous driving, or other illegal behavior.
2. Relationship inconsistencies: Content contradicting your claimed relationship status (particularly important for marriage-based applications).
3. Extremist content: Posts expressing support for terrorist organizations or extremist ideologies.
4. Threatening or violent content: Any posts that could be interpreted as threatening violence against individuals or groups.
5. Immigration fraud indicators: Content suggesting you’re misrepresenting your reasons for immigration (e.g., planning to work on a tourist visa).
6. Work authorization violations: Evidence of unauthorized employment or income sources that contradict your visa status.
7. Material misrepresentations: Information that contradicts facts stated in your application (travel history, education, etc.).
8. Moral character issues: Content showing harassment, discrimination, or other behavior that reflects poorly on your character.

These categories are particularly scrutinized because they directly relate to eligibility requirements and grounds of inadmissibility under U.S. immigration law.

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What This Means for You

It’s tempting to think of social media as just a conversation among friends. But it’s not. A better real-life analogy would be a 1,000-person party—and you’re not in control of the guest list, which may or may not include the media, or law enforcement, or your mother. When you post on social media, you’re taking the stage and grabbing the microphone.

Some social media posts can have real consequences. Your visa application could be denied, or you could be turned away at the border. There are even reports of people who have legal status in the United States being put into deportation proceedings because of their social media posts.

This doesn’t mean that you should immediately delete all of your social media accounts, but here are some general best practices:

• Be aware of your privacy settings and set them to be as restrictive as possible.
• Understand the different channels of all of the social media platforms you use. For example, posting in a private group on Facebook is different from posting on your personal page, which could be visible to the general public.
• Avoid accepting friend requests from people you don’t actually know.
• Consider using separate accounts for professional and personal use.
• Regularly audit your online presence by searching your own name and reviewing your digital footprint.
• Remember that even deleted posts may be archived or screenshotted elsewhere.

If you are applying for any immigration benefit, here are some additional tips for specific application types:

For family-based applications:

• If you use any platforms that make your “relationship status” public, make sure that this information is accurate.
• Don’t flirt with anyone on social media who is not your spouse or future spouse, or do anything else that could create an appearance of infidelity.
• Be especially cautious about the use of dating apps.

For employment-based applications:

• Ensure your LinkedIn and other professional profiles match the work history, job titles, and responsibilities listed in your application.
• Be mindful of posts about side businesses or freelance work that might conflict with visa restrictions.
• If you’ve claimed specialized knowledge or skills, your social media should generally reflect those capabilities.

Finally, there are some things you should never do on social media. For example:

• Never make jokes about committing a crime in the United States, being involved with terrorists, or having any intention to harm the United States. In 2012, two British tourists were denied entry, detained, and sent home after one of them tweeted that he was going to “destroy America.” It didn’t matter that this was likely a case of misunderstood slang—the British man was probably not, in his mind, even joking about a crime, but rather just saying he planned to party and drink.
• Never joke about having deceived the government or any government agency.
• Don’t post anything on social media that contradicts anything in your visa or US citizenship application.
• Avoid profanity and the use of aggressive or threatening language.
• Be cautious about your complaints. It is never a good idea to direct profanity-ridden insults at the U.S. government, USCIS, or specific officers.

Social media makes surveillance relatively easy for the government, friends, family, employers, and scam artists. Being careful about how you use social media and understanding the risks of any provocative posts can help you avoid unpleasant surprises.

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Social Media Immigration Frequently Asked Questions