VisasSince 2001, U.S. has revoked 9,500 visas over terrorism threat

Published 21 December 2015

Since 2001, the U.S. government has revoked more than 122,000 visas – of which some 9,500 were revoked because of the threat of terrorism. The information was revealed by Michele Thoren Bond, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State. When Bond was asked about the whereabouts of the thousands of foreigners whose visa had been revoked, she admitted she did not know. Members of a House panel before which Bond was testifying pressed her on why public social media postings should not be routinely examined as part of the vetting process for those attempting to enter the United States.

Since 2001, the U.S. government has revoked more than 122,000 visas – of which some 9,500 were revoked because of the threat of terrorism. CBS News reports that the information was revealed byMichele Thoren Bond, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State.

Fox News reported that when Bond was asked about the whereabouts of the thousands of foreigners whose visa had been revoked, she admitted she did not know. She stressed, though that security reviews of those who receive visas do not stop when a visa is issued, and that U.S. security agencies continuously compare information about new threats against the records of visa recipients and, if necessary, revoke visas.

Bond testified last Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which was discussing way to prevent extremists from exploiting the U.S. visa system.

Fox News notes that DHS and the State Department are currently reviewing the vetting process for visa applicants. One subject under scrutiny is whether the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) can review applicants’ social media posts – including private posts — as part of the evaluation of applications for visas.

Tashfeen Malik, one of the San Bernardino shooters, had been interviewed at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan and reportedly vetted by five different government agencies. FBI Director James Comey has said that Malik and her husband, Syed Farook, had communicated privately online about jihad and martyrdom before their marriage. These postings, however, could not be reviewed and taken into consideration in the vetting process because, following the leaks by Edward Snowden about the NSA’s phone metadata collection program, DHS and State Department officers involved in the vetting process were barred from reviewing applicants’ social media postings. Privacy advocates, among them some members of Congress, viewed reviews of social media postings as Big Brother snooping.

On Thursday, members of the House panel questioned officials on why public social media postings should not be routinely examined as part of the vetting process for those attempting to enter the United States.

“If half the employers are doing it in the United States of America, if colleges are doing it for students, why wouldn’t Homeland Security do it?” asked Representative Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts). “We don’t even look at their public stuff, that’s what kills me.”