New rules from the Trump administration are beginning to be implemented, making visa screening tougher for millions of people trying to get in to the United States.
The new security checks apply to tourists, business travelers, and relatives who want to visit the Country.
Last week Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent cables to all American embassy officials to begin "extreme vetting" of a broad pool of visa applicants:
"Consular officers should not hesitate to refuse any case presenting security concerns...All visa decisions are national security decisions."
Applicants will be asked detailed questions about their backgrounds, and there will be a mandatory check of social media history if a person has ever been in territory controlled by ISIS.
Naturally, there are people who think this type of screening is wrong because it leads to profiling based on nationality or religion.
That's what Seattle-based immigration lawyer Jay Gairson thinks:
"What this language effectively does is give the consular posts permission to step away from the focused factors they have spent years developing and revising, and instead broaden the search to large groups based on gross factors such as nationality and religion."
Why is it wrong for the United States to get tough on who we let in? Other countries would do the same thing if they felt they needed to, so why does the U.S. always get scolded?!
We should not accept terrorism as the new normal!
Read more at Reuters and the New York Times.