The Trump administration said it would look for "anti-American" and "anti-Semitic" views when deciding on the right to live in the US for immigrants.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on its website on Tuesday that the agency is updating its guidance regarding factors that officers consider in their requests.
The agency also said it expanded its vetting, including social media vetting and other reviews.
"America's benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies. US Citizenship and Immigration Services is committed to implementing policies and procedures that root out anti-Americanism and supporting the enforcement of rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible," said USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
"Immigration benefits—including to live and work in the United States—remain a privilege, not a right."
The new guidance update, according to USCIS, is effective immediately, and will apply to requests pending or filed on or after the publication date.
Only anti-Semitism
While it makes sense that the US would take such a stance against the so-called "anti-American" views, the only non-US-related hatred to be added to the new update is anti-Semitism.
This puts the new guidance, and the Trump administration in general, in an odd position, as it may indicate the government doesn't take any kind of other hatred as seriously.
Although anti-Semitism by the very definition includes Arabs, terms like anti-Arab or Islamophobic are often used to describe incidents of hatred towards Arabs and Muslims. Both of them are excluded from the new guidance update.
Other forms of hatred, including xenophobia, religious intolerance, bigotry, and racism, were not included in the update.
Most of these views aren't necessarily punished by the law in the US; however, actions motivated by such views fall under hate crimes and/or discrimination and can lead to legal consequences.
President Donald Trump has previously demonstrated his willingness to crack down on any views he deems anti-Semitic.
He cracked down on pro-Palestine students, including notable names such as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, for protesting on university campuses against Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.
He also targeted universities for allowing those protests on their respective campuses.
