An immigration lawyer has claimed that border agents of the United States are combing through the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) pages of travelers before they grant them entry into the country. The lawyer claimed the border agents are checking the travelers’ social media pages for their political views as well as their views on President Trump.
Mana Yegani, who works with Alia – American Immigration Lawyers Association, also revealed that a couple of green card holders were placed in detention by U.S. border agents at airports across America after President Donald Trump issued an immigration ban executive order on seven countries. These countries are in Africa and the Middle East and they include Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iraq and Iran.
Green card holders
The ban has also affected green card holders despite the fact that they have a legal right to live and work in the United States. Yegani disclosed that she and fellow lawyers had been fielding calls from individuals who had legitimate visas but who had been ordered back on flights to the listed countries or who had been placed in detention prior to getting into the United States.
In one incident, a man who holds both Iranian and Canadian citizenship was not allowed to get on a flight in Ottawa, Canada. Another incident involved a PhD Student at Stanford from Sudan who has been a resident in the United States for more than two decades who was detained in New York for five hours.
“These are people that are coming in legally. They have jobs here and they have vehicles here. Just because Trump signed something at 6pm yesterday, things are coming to a crashing halt. It’s scary,” said Yegani.
State Department’s Discretion
The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have been granted discretion when admitting travelers from the countries on the list. One criterion on which the discretion could be applied is if the traveler is a member of a religious minority fleeing persecution. This means that the social media information could also be used to determine not only political views and beliefs but also one’s religion.
In Friday’s trading, shares of Facebook Inc fell by 0.45% to close the day at $132.18.
