A majority of U.S. adult citizens believe the government should be allowed to monitor the social media accounts of applicants hoping to immigrate to the U.S., an Economist/YouGov survey found.
The survey asked respondents, “Do you think the U.S. government should or should not be allowed to monitor the social media accounts of people applying to immigrate to the U.S.?”
Across the board, a majority, 53 percent, said the government “should” be allowed to monitor the social media accounts of these applicants, compared to 27 percent who said the government “should not.” Another 19 percent reman unsure.
Results vary across party lines. For example most Republicans, 78 percent, said the government should monitor the social media of these applicants, compared to 14 percent who said it should not and eight percent who remain unsure.
A plurality of Democrats, 44 percent, said the government should not monitor the social media activity of these individuals, while 34 percent said it should. Another 21 percent were not sure.
A plurality of independents, meanwhile — 48 percent — agree that the government should monitor the social media activity of these applicants. A quarter said it should not, and another 27 percent said they are not sure.
When asked, “How much do you trust the U.S. government to determine whether content on a person’s social media account should disqualify them from immigrating to the U.S.,” only 39 percent across the board said they trusted the government either a great deal or fair amount. Forty-six percent said they trust the government in this capacity not very much or not at all.
However, 32 percent across the board said the main goal of this — screening the social media accounts of certain immigrants applying for visas — is to “improve national security.” Twenty-three percent said it is to “suppress political dissent,” and 27 percent believe it is both of those “equally.”
The survey was taken May 30 through June 2, 2025, among 1,610 respondents. It has a +/- 3.2 percent margin of error.
In March, the Trump administration proposed a policy requiring those for applying for green cards, asylum, refugee status or U.S. citizen ship to disclose their social media accounts to the U.S. government, as Breitbart News reported:
The policy, proposed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the Federal Register, would affect over 3.5 million people applying for various immigration benefits, including green cards, naturalization, asylum, and refugee status.
According to the Federal Register notice, the proposed social media surveillance policy is necessary to comply with President Trump’s executive order titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” The order, issued on Trump’s first day in office, requires the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies to ensure that all immigrants seeking admission to the United States are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.
The following month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced plans to screen the social media accounts of migrants for antisemitism, specifically.
According to the April 9 press release, “Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin considering aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests.” USCIS warned the change would “immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students, and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.”
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