Hamed Aleaziz is a New York Times reporter, and boy, does he have a scoop for you. The United States of America can now deny immigrants a green card for participating in pro-Hamas campus protests, posting "criticism" of Israel on social media, and desecrating the American flag. Isn't that horrible? America can decide who it lets in.
Scoop: immigrants can now be denied a green card for expressing political opinions, such as participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests, posting criticism of Israel on social media and desecrating the American flag, according to internal documents.
— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) April 25, 2026
w/ @NickNehamas
Aleaziz and Nicholas Nehamas report:
The documents, which have not been previously reported, show how expansively the Trump administration is carrying out a directive from last August to vet green card applicants for “anti-American” and “antisemitic” views.
…
Basing green card decisions on “ideological screenings is fundamentally un-American and should have no place in a country built on the promise of free expression,” said Amanda Baran, a senior agency official under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Administration officials said they were defending American values.
“If you hate America, you have no business demanding to live in America,” said Zach Kahler, a spokesman for U.S.C.I.S.
Basing green card decisions on "ideological screenings" is smart and sane.
Why the hell should we give a green card to anyone desecrating our flag???
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 25, 2026
Good. Why would we extend green cards to foreigners who desecrate the American flag?
— Sunny (@sunnyright) April 25, 2026
Pretending to like the country you’re trying to enter is the minimum you should do.
— Sean Spicier - Former Tango Dancer (Parody) (@sean_spicier) April 25, 2026
Why on earth would our country extend the privilege of immigrating here to idiots who riot against our government on behalf of designated terrorist organizations? Unfortunately we have enough home grown terrorist sympathizers to deal with. Zero excuse to import more.
— funkychicken (@funkychicken) April 25, 2026
As an immigrant myself, immigrants can rightly be denied for literally any reason. There is no obligation to let anyone into your country, and the United States should do it only to the extent that the United States believes it will benefit.
— David Gaw (@davidgaw) April 25, 2026
Curious what Muslim countries allow student protesters?
— Philly Proper 🥂 (@phillyprosper) April 25, 2026
That you feel this is wrong or newsworthy in any way is baffling.
— Anisha Babbar (@AnishaB95757) April 25, 2026
No one owes you a green card. There are 195 other countries in the world to choose from, try wreaking havoc & social decay in one of those
And? Receiving a green card is a privilege. There’s no right to a green card. Take your propaganda and shove it
— Wimberley (@bourboncowboy21) April 25, 2026
Expressing the opinion that you hate America and desecrating the American flag are pretty obvious things that we should stop immigrants doing who want to live and work in the US.
— Needle (@Ltrs_Frm_Across) April 25, 2026
They’re agitators. We’ve seen the videos.
— TexasRed (@TXRed6483) April 25, 2026
Long overdue. Well done, Secretary Rubio!
— Bob A (@ba6116) April 25, 2026
It's about time. I'm not sure what makes people from other countries think you deserve in any way to be here -- anymore than I deserve to be in your country just because I want to.
— Adyana (@adyanalistens) April 25, 2026
If you burn are flag, if you say death to America, and stand with terrorists then yes, we as a country should deny a green card. Not so hard to understand.
— djr (@debbie1202) April 25, 2026
Good. If your a violent extremist supporter then stay in your country. We like law abiding people. Not people who will come to America just to complain and cause problems.
— Big Squeeze 87 (@Drew87proof) April 25, 2026
The fact these measly requirements (don't desecrate the flag of the country you want to be a citizen of) could be found outrageous by anyone is a testament to the utter uselessness of past administrations in vetting who got let in.
— covertproxy (@covertproxy) April 25, 2026
Oh well, tough shit for them.
— wadauwant (@keng_wadauwant) April 25, 2026
My grandfather came here from Poland, joined the army and fought in WWI just so he could become a citizen.
Getting gassed in the trenches was why he only lived to 50 and died in 1935.
I have no sympathy for these green card holders.
Please give me a student visa so I can come to the Great Satan and become a full-time pro-terrorist protester on campus for 10 years with no degree to show for it.
This was always the case. No laws changed, they’re just being enforced. You should look into what else they’re allowed to do.
— CyberDivergent (@CyberDivergent) April 25, 2026
We're not sure how this is a "scoop." It's the right thing to do for our national security. We're glad it's finally being enforced.
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