It’s possible that going forward, social media posts will be scrutinized in the process of vetting people for U.S. visas, Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
“We need to look at whether there are meetings and whether we should be and how we can do it,” Kerry said. “But clearly the social media has placed a whole new burden and a whole new set of questions.”
The discussion around eliminating what Kerry called a “loophole” in U.S. visa vetting comes just weeks after a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif. claimed 14 lives. It was subsequently reported that one of the terrorists had been communicating her radical beliefs on social media prior to applying for what is colloquially known as a fiancée visa.
Kerry cautioned against rushing to conclusions. “We need to look at this very, very carefully…before we jump to a wholesale prohibition without understanding what the implications may be,” he said.
The 2004 presidential contender also criticized GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and his controversial comments about temporarily banning Muslims from entering the U.S .
“Those people who know the United States well are quite shocked [about Trump’s comments] because they see it as totally contrary to American values,” Kerry said. “I think that you’ve got to be very carefully just by categorizing people by being Muslim. That is discrimination and it is contrary, I think, to the fundamental values of our country.”
Kerry joined "Meet the Press" from Paris, where he had just finished participating in the international climate conference that resulted in an agreement between 190+ countries to curb greenhouse gas emissions.