US immigration officials look to collect social media handles from those seeking benefits. Is this new?

Trump.
The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the government's reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally, such as asylum seekers, green card and citizenship applicants — and not just those applying to enter the country. That said, social media monitoring by immigration officials has been a practice for over a decade, since at least the second Obama administration and ramping up under Trump's first term.
Below are some questions and answers on what the new proposal means and how it might expand social media surveillance.

What is the proposal? The Department of Homeland Security issued a 60-day notice asking for public commentary on its plan to comply with Trump's executive order titled «Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.» The plan calls for «uniform vetting standards» and screening people for grounds of inadmissibility to the U.S., as well as identify verification and «national security screening.» It seeks to collect social media handles and the names of platforms, although not passwords.

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The policy seeks to require people to share their social media handles when applying for U.S. citizenship, green card, asylum and other immigration benefits. The proposal is open to feedback from the public until May 5.

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What is changing? «The basic requirements that are in