Trump Admin to Screen Out Immigrants with Anti-Semitic Views, But What About Homegrown Anti-Semites?

Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced it would screen out immigrant applicants who espoused anti-Semitic views. Here's an excerpt from the release put out by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin considering aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. This will immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.

Consistent with President Trump’s executive orders on Combatting Anti-Semitism, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism and Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, DHS will enforce all relevant immigration laws to the maximum degree, to protect the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: “the Houthis.”

The release went on to elaborate:

Under this guidance, USCIS will consider social media content that indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests. This guidance is effective immediately. 

Now, a part of me is quite sympathetic to these aims and objectives. As a Jewish American, I do not want to live among people who endorse violence against Jews and support terrorist organizations whose goal is the murder of Jews. 

Yet at the same time there are plenty of homegrown anti-Semites who I would rather not live among. Now one might say you cannot deport American citizens. Well, the Trump Administration is thinking of doing exactly that. So, they've cracked open the door.

Even if deportation is neither constitutional nor practical, how does the Trump Administration intend to address domestic anti-Semitism up to and including the Proud Boys, Tucker Carlson and members of the Trump Administration such as Elon Musk? And what of immigrant applicants from Germany who support the AfD? An AfD which has been praised by both Musk and VP Vance.

Of course, I have no such expectation they will address anti-Semitism in this context. All of which makes me question the sincerity of the Trump Administration to combat anti-Semitism in all of its form and substance. 

What it tells me the Trump Administration is fine with anti-Semitism provided the anti-Semite is an anti-immigrant white who believes Trump won the 2020 election.