[JURIST] The US State Department [officiail website] submitted [Federal Register notice] a proposal to the Federal Register on Friday that would require nonimmigrant visa applicants to list their social media identities for the last five years.

The application would provide a list of social media platforms, which could be subject to change, and the applicants would be required to provide the names they used for each of the listed platforms. Applicants could also volunteer their identities on platforms not expressly listed on the application.

Other additions to the application will include asking applicants about previous telephone numbers, emails and, in some cases, additional medical records.

Friday begins the 60-day notice and comment period for the proposal. The proposal will ultimately have to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget [official website].

Immigration has become a divisive issue in the US. Last week the Supreme Court declined [JURIST report] to hear Arizona’s challenge to a federal court’s dreamer drivers license ruling. Earlier in March the Supreme Court granted [JURIST report] certiorari in a case to rule on the mandatory detention of noncitizens released from criminal custody. That same month the ACLU filed [JURIST report] a federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s arbitrary detention of asylum seekers.