Trump administration orders Gaza-linked social media vetting for visa applicants

New order requires social media vetting for US visa applicants, including NGO workers, amid visa revocations.

The Trump administration on Thursday (April 17, 2025) ordered a social media vetting for all U.S. visa applicants who have been to the Gaza Strip on or after January 1, 2007, an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters showed, in the latest push to tighten screening of foreign travelers.

The order to conduct a social media vetting for all immigrant and non-immigrant visas should include non-governmental organization workers as well as individuals who have been in the Palestinian enclave for any length of time in an official or diplomatic capacity, the cable said.

"If the review of social media results uncovers potential derogatory information relating to security issues, then a SAO must be submitted," the cable said, referring to a security advisory opinion, which is an interagency investigation to determine if a visa applicant poses a national security risk to the United States.

The cable was sent to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts.

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The move comes as President Donald Trump's administration has revoked hundreds of visas across the country, including the status of some lawful permanent residents under a 1952 law allowing the deportation of any immigrant whose presence in the country the secretary of state deems harmful to U.S. foreign policy.

The cable dated April 17 was signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said in late March that he may have revoked more than 300 visas already.