(LifeSiteNews) — In what will likely infuriate both libertarians and secular progressives, President Donald Trump is considering forcing tourists from select countries to provide their place of birth, email addresses, extensive family history, and social media activity over the previous five years to the U.S. government before entering the country.
A proposed rule change was issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection agency this week. The policy would apply to citizens of 42 countries enrolled in the U.S.’s visa waiver program. Residents of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and other U.S. allies across the world would be affected by it, including Australia and Japan.
A spokesperson for the DHS said the measure is part of the government’s crackdown on preventing undesirable foreigners from coming to the U.S. “The Department is constantly looking at how we vet those coming into the country, especially after the terrorist attack in Washington D.C. against our National Guard right before Thanksgiving,” the person said, per NBC News.
While the rule is likely to be seen as controversial, persons who already come to the U.S. and are not part of the visa waiver program are required to submit to it at present. Trump’s rule would merely extend the already-existing norms to more countries.
Last month, Trump said he is seeking to “permanently” ban migration from “third-world countries.” The DHS proposal would no doubt be part of that effort. It would also serve as red meat to his anti-open borders base, who has long demanded he increase deportation numbers, which are not as “record breaking” as they are made out to be by the media.
Asked about the new proposal at the White House this week, Trump defended it by saying, “We just want people to come over here and (be) safe.”
Critics on both sides of the political aisle are worried about possible unintended consequences of the measure.
New York Democrat John Cooper said on X that the proposal would “decimate the U.S. tourism industry.”
Sarah McLaughlin, director of free speech projects at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told The Guardian that “those who hope to experience the wonders of the United States … should not have to fear that self-censorship is a condition of entry.” This sends “the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense, not practice.”
Rick Wilson is a former conservative who founded the Lincoln Project. While he has largely fallen prey to Trump Derangement Syndrome, he was not wrong to express concerns earlier this year with Trump’s decision to tap Tech giant Palantir with collecting data on Americans from government agencies. “If Barack Obama or Joe Biden had proposed this, the GOP would be in the streets with pitchforks and torches. I guess the new ‘conservative’ position is, ‘I want the state to know everything about me at all times,’” Wilson said on X.
The Trump administration has taken other steps to restrict immigration. Earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the U.S. was expanding its travel ban from 19 countries to 32. Previous places on the list included Afghanistan, Iran, and Somalia.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?” she asked.
Trump has also ratcheted up his rhetoric in recent weeks in light of the massive migrant scandal brewing in Minnesota. The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, has come under intense scrutiny after being accused of complicity in Somali nationals abusing the state’s welfare system. Keith Ellison, the state’s left-wing attorney general, has been implicated as well.
“Minnesota, under Governor Walz, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” Trump said on social media. “I am … hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollar are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!”
Trump will have to contend with the U.S. bishops’ conference as well if he wants to continue on his anti-open borders crusade. Earlier this year, the group issued a pastoral letter, the first of its kind in 12 years, expressing solidarity with illegal immigrants. Pope Leo has also issued words of warning, calling on, at least indirectly, the Trump administration to change its policies.
But Trump immigration czar Tom Homan has hit back. In remarks delivered outside the White House recently, he told the bishops to focus on “fixing the church” and to let the government worry about securing the border.
To his point, the Trump administration recently located 62,000 unaccompanied migrant children, some of whom were victims of sex trafficking and child labor. The children found their way into the U.S. under the Biden administration’s dangerous open border policies.
“Over half a million children were smuggled into this country,” Homan told Fox News. “They were released to unvetted sponsors. They lost track of 300,000. President Trump committed on day one that we will do everything we can to find every one of these children.”
As the new year begins, an intensification between all parties on immigration is likely to continue until the midterm elections. Trump will likely continue to double and even triple down on his efforts. Whether the American people will reward him with a House and Senate Majority remains to be seen as polls show most voters are worried about inflation and the impact of tariffs on goods.
