White House discussing asking foreign visitors for social media info and cell phone contacts:
Amid the chaos and confusion of President Donald Trump’s new executive order on immigration and refugees, sources tell CNN that White House policy director Stephen Miller spoke with officials of the State Department, Customs and Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security and others to tell them that the President is deeply committed to the executive order and the public is firmly behind it – urging them not to get distracted by what he described as hysterical voices on TV.
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White House press secretary Sean Spicer did not respond to a request for comment.Already, Politico reported in December, the US government had quietly begun asking that foreign visitors provide their social media accounts voluntarily. The Obama administration had previously approved asking for much more information from people on terror watch lists, The Intercept reported in 2014.Trump’s executive order bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.Trump’s unilateral moves, which have drawn the ire of human rights groups and prompted protests at US airports, reflect the President’s desire to quickly make good on his campaign promises. But they also encapsulate the pitfalls of an administration largely operated by officials with scant federal experience.
