(NewsNation) — Customs and Border Protection filed a proposal Tuesday that would require travelers coming to the U.S. without visas to provide their social media history from the last five years.
The department is “adding social media as a mandatory data element” for travelers applying for entry into the country under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization or ESTA. An approved ESTA allows citizens from 42 countries to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa. Some of the countries eligible for ESTA include the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and Chile. An ESTA application currently costs $40. Once approved, it is valid for two years or until your passport expires.
In addition to the social media check, the proposal notes CBP is adding several “high-value data fields” to the ESTA application. These data requests would include telephone numbers used in the last five years, email addresses used in the last ten years, as well as names and birthdays of family members. Applicants would also be required to provide biometric data, including “face, fingerprint, DNA and iris.”
The proposal comes as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration and visa access to the U.S. In November, the State Department announced 80,000 non-immigrant visas had been revoked since January for a variety of infractions. In October, the department revoked the visas of six foreign nationals, citing comments on social media about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Immigration attorney and Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, Michael Wildes, tells NewsNation that social media has become a standard tool for screening visitors and that officials are looking for looking for red flags, not random personal posts.
“If a person comes into America, and we’ve had clients show up with social media where they’re putting beheadings by ISIS on it, they don’t want them to come in as visitors to the United States,” Wildes said. “So, there’s a vested interest in America’s national security.”
CBP notes in the proposal that it is accepting public comments on the proposed changes for 60 days, starting on Dec. 10. If the proposal is approved by the Office of Management and Budget, the changes may be implemented in the following weeks and months, according to immigration law firm Fragomen.