Immigration officials prohibited from looking at visa applicants' social media posting.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson decided against ending a secret U.S. policy that prohibits immigration officials from reviewing social media posts of foreigners applying for U.S. visas, according to a report by ABC News.
Johnson decided to keep the prohibition in place in early 2014 because he feared a civil liberties backlash and “bad public relations,” according to ABC.“During that time period immigration officials were not allowed to use or review social media as part of the screening process,” John Cohen, a former acting under-secretary at DHS for intelligence and analysis, told ABC News.
One current and one former senior counter-terrorism official confirmed Cohen’s account to ABC.
A DHS spokesperson told ABC News that in the fall of 2014 after Cohen left, the Department began three pilot programs to include social media in vetting, but officials say it's still not a widespread policy and a review is underway.
The policy's revelation comes after U.S. officials learned that Tashfeen Malik, one of the San Bernardino shooters, posted a message on Facebook declaring allegiance to the Islamice State in Iraq and Syria during a shooting in which 14 people were killed.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanded Sunday that the U.S. immediately start a program to review social media sites of those admitted on visas.
"Had they checked out Tashfeen Malik...maybe those people in San Bernardino would be alive," he said, according to ABC News.
Cohen said he and other U.S. officials had pressed for a policy change in 2014 but top officials with the DHS's Office of Civil Liberties and the Office of Privacy opposed it.
Cohen said he and other U.S. officials had pressed for a policy change in 2014 but top officials with the DHS's Office of Civil Liberties and the Office of Privacy opposed it.
