By DEEPTI HAJELA
Some U.S. embassies in European nations are taking to social media with pointed warnings to would-be visitors: Watch your step.
Embassies in at least 17 countries have put up posts featuring images of administration figures, including President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, warning those seeking visas that engaging in behavior deemed harmful by the government could get deported.
In a post put up by the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, the message reads: “When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Now, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that. You lied to us. You’re out.”
Another post put up by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest has a quote from Rubio, saying, “We don’t want people in our country that are going to be committing crimes and undermining our national security or the public safety.”
The posts come at time when the Trump administration is clamping down on those with visas, like international students or professors, who have taken part in protests on university campuses around the conflict in Gaza in support of Palestinians and against Israel’s military actions.
That’s included taking visas away and putting the visa holders in immigration detention, and blocking people from entering the country. Among the cases is that of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University.
At a regular briefing Monday, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce called the warnings “reasonable.”
“Follow the law, behave yourselves, be a good visitor and you’ll be fine,” Bruce said. “It’s a visa. It’s not an entitlement. A visa and a green card are not birthrights. These are privileges you’re granted … because of what you present to the United States.”
She added, “Every sovereign nation in the world has an interest in controlling who comes in, knowing who’s coming into their country, what their intentions are.”
While it’s standard practice for those who apply for visas to enter the United States to come under scrutiny when they apply, the language being used in the posts and the social media campaign nature of the posts showcases the stance the administration has taken in regard to who’s allowed to be in the country and what behavior the U.S. government deems acceptable.
Some of the posts reflect the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, such as the one posted by the U.S. Embassy in Denmark. It features a Noem quote saying, “If you’re considering traveling to the United States illegally, don’t even think about it.”
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed.
