Students should not be ‘deprived' of US visas for protesting, Harris says
Last month, the US Embassy in Dublin announced that students applying for J-1 visas will undergo 'comprehensive and thorough vetting' of their social media.
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The changes also apply for other exchange visitor applicants in the F, M and J non-immigrant classifications.
All applicants are asked to list all their social media profiles, and make their accounts publicly accessible.
Failure to do so could lead to a visa being rejected.
The embassy said it will use all available information in its visa screening to identify those who 'are inadmissible' to the US, including those who pose a threat to national security.
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It said it wanted to ensure those applying for admission into the US 'do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests'.
It added that a US visa 'is a privilege, not a right'.
Ireland's national students' union said the new measures represent a significant and disproportionate intrusion into personal lives and digital privacy, and that they raise serious concerns about freedom of expression and online surveillance.
Simon Harris said he had 'a really good conversation' about student visas with Ed Walsh, US ambassador to Ireland, on Monday.
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Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mr Harris said: 'I think Ambassador Walsh knows the importance of the people-to-people connection between our two countries.
'I was making the point that we live in a country where young people have very, very strong views – as do I, by the way – on a lot of what's going on in the world and they have every right to express those views.
'And freedom of speech matters and being able to freely express yourself – online, offline, through protest – is an important part of our democracy, and I know President Trump is somebody who I would imagine in his own country would champion free speech.
He added: 'So we very much want our young people to continue to be able to articulate their very strongly held views on horrific issues that are happening around the world but that shouldn't deprive somebody from going on J-1.'
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Mr Harris said while immigration policy and visas is a matter for the US, he said he and the ambassador agreed to keep in touch on the matter.
'Ireland and the US have been friends for hundreds of years. It's important we keep those connections going, and I wouldn't like to see anything that causes apprehension for a young person travelling to the United States – and I just made that point to Ambassador Walsh.'
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