If a foreigner who wants to immigrate to the US is posting Death to America and praising Jihad all over Facebook we should keep him or her out.

BTW I would say the same thing about a prospective inmigrant who expresses admiration for Eric Rudolph and states that murdering doctors who perform abortions is a good thing.

I think people need to make the distinction.

Of course immigration visa's should get more scrutiny and they generally do. Certainly those should and do have some measure ofsomeone's intent and general ability to fit in.

Visitor's visas should be handled differently.

I am not sure most people realize how difficult it is to get even a visitor's visa to the US already. Try getting a visa here to attend your sister or brother's wedding when you are young? You have a very good chance of not being able to attend.

That is unless you are coming in for big business.....

How do you screen and vet them? Hope that makes you feel more secure.

anti-americanism.

You have every right to say or write whatever you want.

Most republicans would have you believe that just being a democrat makes you "anti-american". Now if they're preaching violence, that another thing entirely.

views?

I promise to read them once I stop laughing. Make sure you get a good nights sleep.

That never happens.

Are they posting that stuff because not posting it would attract attention they don't want? We need to use our brains instead of employing knee-jerk metrics. It behooves us to take a look at the bigger picture and employ reason.

No and yes...

To people who aren't citizens and are anti-American?

Just because someone may be critical of the country's policies does not mean they are dangerous to us.

I find the idea of starting to limit movement based on whatever belief (that is not dangerous) to be troubling.

Also, Visa's are reciprocally based; so eventually you or I may not be able to travel to Europe or somewhere else we are interested because we post critical of an administration? Or think about how this would effect aid workers, various diplomatic agencies, etc.?

A lot of people travel to places that they are critical of the governments for a lot of reasons, including helping the countries?

No one is worried about people posting 'anti-american' views on social media.

The debate is about what to do with people who pledge support to terrorist groups or threaten to commit violence or promote violence against the United States.

If you pledge support to a terrorist group, talk about killing Americans, or support killing Americans on social media, you should be disqualified from entering the country.

Heck I could technically be posting 'anti-american views' on facebook because I state that climate change is man made

But even here in this thread there is support for blocking mere "anti-American" statements. I think it's the specific focus on social media that is the cause for concern, and given how many people want to block people just for being anti-American, even here on a supposed progressive message board, I'd say the concern was valid. I would hope that a person would be blocked no matter how they conveyed the threat.

Someone who runs a group that advocates the overthrow of the US Government, No Visa
Someone who doesn't like our foreign policy, give them a Visa.
Most anti-American views should be fine. Some will not be.

If you don't like US policy and aren't a citizen then why should you be admitted?

It is good for Americans to get to know people with different opinions. It is good for them to know the people here as more than US policy.

If they spend money here, it is good for our economy.

fiance, work etc visa requirements/applications.

Which Visa isn't relevant to that question.

Anti-American views is way to broad. There are countries friendly to the US where a majority hold an anti-American view, whether the have expressed it or not.

It has to be on a case by case basis.

To the Constitution. If you aren't a US citizen then you have no protected rights.

citizen or not.

I would guess in many circumstances they are not in the country yet.

it prohibits actions by the Government.

who praises the murder of doctors who commit abortions, decides he wants to immigrate here so he can start a megachurch for like-minded people, you would be perfectly happy to give him a visa?

I thought the whole point of America was its nondenominationalism, it's like Australia for religious whackos. But, yeah, advocating murder = bad, seemingly irrational beliefs = all the same to uncle sam, I mean on paper.

Or is that just rub of the green?

A rub of the green? Green what?

Indeed, how do we keep out the Dylan Roofs and the Robert Dears?

Or is that too, simply an inconvenient lay of pluralism?

it would likely have to rise to the level of saying they intended to try to overthrow the government or the like.

During the McCarthy era, advocating communism.

Anybody pledging support of ISIS now is going to be considered a national security risk

I am a proud and loyal American who is often highly critical of this country.

That said, to the jihadi asswipes who have a boner for Daesh, NO VISA FOR YOU!

"I disagree with the proposal of this person who is a member of (insert political party)?" vs. "I want to go to USA to buy automatic weapons, build bombs, and become the shahid to end all shahids?"

There are a wide range of views in USA. Just because you disagree with ONE American doesn't mean you disagree with ALL Americans.

That said, if someone wants to kill Americans, fuck 'em. They don't deserve a visa, share that name with Interpol.

the kind of immigrants that is conductive to a healthy society. Kind of common sense don't you think? If they have intractable problems with this country why would they want to come here any way?

If it was something like criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq or other misguided policies we've indulged in over the years, then I would say most definitely no. As a champion of free speech, we should practice what we preach and not censor the speech of others if they want to come here. If they're posting on ISIS's website and cheering terrorism to the point where it looks like they might be coming here for more than a visit, then I would say yes.

And how specific will this definition be?

Does "anti-American" mean "critical of"? If it does then, no, I do not support denying visas to people who post anti-American views on social media or anywhere else. If they advocate violence, that's another matter.

I wish the topic stated in the boundaries.

That doesn't mean they can't criticize American policies. But if they have a general hatred of America, they shouldn't be allowed in. I would question why they even want to come if they don't like us.

between criticizing policy and "not liking the country" BTW, what does not liking the country mean to you?

Support for our enemies and their ideologies, like Isis. Messages that suggest our legal system should be overturned in favor of religious law. Messages that oppose beliefs that we view as fundamental rights, like free speech, association, religion, etc.

If we truly believe in the ideal of free speech, then we don't ban people from coming here because we don't like their what they say. Threats obviously showing an intent to commit terrorism and other crimes is a different matter.

Foreigners are not entitled to green cards.

Gay marriage, Israel, Guns, etc, etc?

Also there is no way of verifying that the person who created the account is indeed you, would it be fair to have your vacation or business trip ruined over some idiot who shared the same name as you?

By the way, there are a lot of people named Tashfeen Malik.



http://www.tmz.com/2015/12/04/san-bernardino-shooter-tashfeen-malik-twitter-threat/

If it's of the "America could be so much better" variety, which I don't really consider anti-Americanism at all, then no, that's not a problem.

If it's of the "America is our enemy and must be destroyed" type, well, then, that's much more serious.

Death to all Americans? Probably not. Someone critical of our government policy? The more the merrier!

"Anti-American" views, fine. Welcome. Come judge for yourself whether those views and right or wrong. But I don't think a country is under any obligation to admit people who support violent action against it.

I don't think a person's viewpoint (barring some kinds of extremism) should be enough to deny them a visa. That;s just fascist bullshit.

I hate, hate, hate, the idea of American Exceptionalism. It is a baldfaced lie we tell ourselves to keep running roughshod over the rest of the world.