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US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

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Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#141

Post by biimugan »

hagbard_c wrote: post #53
casenmgreen wrote: post #5

It seems to me one of the methods of control in oppressive States is to have a multitude of rules, which are impractical to actually adhere to, where failure to adhere provides leverage to State - a "justification" for State to then do whatever it is it decides to do with you (such as deportation without due process).

You're describing more or less every legal system in existence for at least the last few centuries. It is often close to impossible to go through a day without breaking at least one law, usually a multitude of them. Such infractions are not acted upon until some power-that-be deems it necessary to get a handle on a person. As to the sudden insistence on due process when it comes to deportation of illegals I do wonder…

What you say may be true with respect to breaking laws. But illegal immigration is one of those relatively small infractions, and only now is there some sudden insistence to prosecute all of them and deport them. So this is a self-made problem.

All of the evidence available to us shows us that migrants, on average, commit less crime than U.S. citizens. The evidence shows us that they pay into social programs without reaping almost any benefit. The evidence shows us that they take jobs that the average American isn't interested in. An evidence-based political program would not target migrants as a first priority, except to provide some more straightforward way to become documented and legal.

The other issue is -- the U.S. has 300 million+ citizens. This argument that migrants will "clog up" the courts seems ridiculous if you also believe U.S. citizens deserve due process. If your court system can't handle a relatively small percentage of your residents committing the crimes you have on the books, then maybe those crimes aren't really serious crimes are they? Or else not funding the courts appropriately to satisfy the political program is purposeful. The goal is to avoid due process and accountability, for citizens and non-citizens alike.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#142

Post by ethbr1 »

soco wrote: post #112
crote wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The goal is to provide an excuse. Very few people will be able to provide a list of 100% of the accounts they used. This means every visitor will technically be lying on their forms. You're more than happy to visit - until you do something the regime doesn't like, like criticizing the recent attack on Iran, or making fun of the military parade. Then they have a ready-made reason to deport and ban you.

You can call yourself lucky if you're "just" deported, and not sent to (and forgotten in) some unnamed prison abroad in a random exotic country.

Are there any instances where the US has refused to repatriate a foreign citizen whose government was willing to take them back?

In the interest of truthfulness, I believe all(?) of the CECOT deportations weren't accepted by their own country.

Which doesn't make it right, but does change the situation.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#143

Post by matwood »

potato3732842 wrote: post #131
ujkhsjkdhf234 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What problems are you talking about? Be specific.

>What problems are you talking about? Be specific. The one where these people don't have work papers, so they can't work the kind of above the table jobs you need to work to fully support yourself so they wind up being a drain on our social safety nets. The average working American in my state can't even afford "good" healthcare but we're happy to let these people in sign these people up for state healthcare and bene…

> The one where these people don't have work papers, so they can't work the kind of above the table jobs you need to work to fully support yourself so they wind up being a drain on our social safety nets.

Legal immigrants and many undocumented workers without employment authorization pay Social Security taxes, analyses show. Some undocumented immigrants use fake Social Security numbers or ones they may have had before their work permits lapsed.

In 2022, for example, undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local income taxes, including nearly $26 billion in Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank. (The report takes into account both employer and employee contributions to Social Security and Medicare taxes.)

But they are not eligible to receive Social Security benefits if they are not lawfully in the US.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/01/politics/undocumented-imm...

> The average working American in my state can't afford "good" healthcare

You're going to blame the complete lack of affordable healthcare in the US on...immigrants? Ok.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#145

Post by kcplate »

childintime wrote: post #72
verzali wrote: post #8

> The embassy also wants people to set their social media profiles to public. Good thing I have no interest in visiting the land of the "free" anytime soon.

I was thinking about presenting at a conference in the USA in november, but the risks and abuse associated with entrance are now so high, it's out of the question. The world can no longer center on the USA. The tr*mp administration seems to think they are inviolable, that they can solve every problem with the military. They'll be caught with their pants down. A $400 drone can now take out a $2B piece of equipment. Th…

> A $400 drone can now take out a $2B piece of equipment. That waters the mouth of any adversary.

Aren’t you actually arguing for these kind of enhanced vetting measures with this realization?

If anti-US sentiment is high and if the barrier to sabotaging a $2B system is a meager $400…why wouldn’t you do everything you could to prevent people who might be inclined, supportive, or even publicly indifferent to doing your country harm from entering with your blessing?

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#146

Post by msgodel »

mrtksn wrote: post #137
msgodel wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Yep, I never get a response when ask for specifics. Cheers.

What the hell?

No. forcing someone to undergo a medical intervention is strictly more invasive than asking for their social media handle -> a policy doing such is strictly more oppressive.

>but we were facing a threat

Precisely the same argument is made WRT visa candidates.

You do get and have gotten specifics, you're either illiterate or don't want to read them.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#147

Post by seanmcdirmid »

bitshiftfaced wrote: post #139
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US isn’t nearly as important to world tourism as it thinks it is. Maybe Mexico or Canada since they are so close, but otherwise Chinese tourist dollars are sought after more than American. Reciprocation is going to be more of the norm than not.

From what I can see, China, Germany, and USA are the big three. So it's probably pretty important to make it easy for citizens of these countries to get a visa if you care about tourism. Also, there are places in China where it's very hard to get a visa to travel.

China opened up no visa needed for western European and many Asian countries, so…they have the right idea.

No one is really interested in catering to the US tourist market right now. It’s not even clear if Americans are welcome in many countries, or if they have to pretend being Canadians again.

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#148

Post by FirmwareBurner »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #101
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Play the devil's advocate with me for a bit. Say you let someone in who suicide bombs himself and takes out several Americans. Then a reporter asks the DHS spokesperson how they let someone in the country that had "Death to America" posts all over their social media out in the open for everyone to see but they didn't. Nobody would forgive the government for such a grave oversight. At the airport you already let them…

> Say you let someone in who suicide bombs himself and takes out several Americans. Then a reporter asks the DHS spokesperson how they let someone in the country that had "Death to America" posts all over their social media out in the open for everyone to see but they didn't. Nobody would forgive the government for such a grave oversight. Everything is partisan now. If something bad happens, every media outlet will b…

>Everything is partisan now.

You're making it partisan, I wasn't.

>If something bad happens, every media outlet will blame the party they don't like for it somehow

Ignore the media. If a loved one of yours would be killed by a visa holder who wasn't vetted properly even though his social media profile had all the red flags, who would YOU blame ?

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#149

Post by text0404 »

roxolotl wrote: post #129
msgodel wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Without freedom of association people stop socializing when you get a plurality population, you can see this everywhere in the US. Can you elaborate on this? To me, again just being honest and genuine, it reads as a racist dog whistle which says “without a shared cultural baseline this country will collapse”. I’ve worked with local immigrant advocate groups and have multiple immigrants living on the same street as…

This person believes in the (white) replacement conspiracy theory and is trying to articulate its tenets without referencing or naming it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Replacement_conspiracy_t...

Re: US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' for new visas

#150

Post by harrisoned »

zczc wrote: post #110

The requirement to list social accounts has been present since 2018, and the FAQ [1] says: Visa applicants who have never used social media will not be refused on the basis of failing to provide a social media identifier, and the form does allow the applicant to respond with "None." https://ie.usembassy.gov gives 504 so I can't check the primary source, but it seems like the new part is a requirement to make accounts…

So this answers my question about not actually having social media. In theory you wouldn't be denied. But as a professional in the field who cares for privacy, and simply has no use for such services, i wonder if they could just assume you are lying and has bad intentions.
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