World

U.S. embassies and consulates around the world have been instructed to identify groups of people warranting increased scrutiny in the visa-application process and to screen their social-media accounts.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed the new requirements in recent diplomatic cables, according to March 24 reports from AP and Reuters, which first reported the news.

The measures do not define which "population sets" are to be targeted, but reviews of social-media accounts of visa applicants are intended for anyone suspected of terrorist ties or of having been in areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

The AP said the State Department would not comment on the report, though it added that attempts were being made to meet requirements from the administration of President Donald Trump to ensure that "visitor screening and vetting procedures are designed to effectively identify individuals who could pose a threat to the United States."

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

U.S. authorities have taken rare action to strip U.S. citizenship from a man convicted in 2003 of involvement in an Al-Qaeda plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

The Justice Department on March 20 filed a civil suit to revoke the citizenship of Iyman Faris, a Pakistan native who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for supporting the terrorist organization. He is due to be released in 2020.

The department said Faris lied to gain citizenship and fraudulently used another man's passport to gain entry into the United States in 1994.

"The Department's Office of Immigration Litigation will continue to pursue denaturalization proceedings against known or suspected terrorists who procured their citizenship by fraud," acting Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler said.

"The U.S. government is dedicated to...preventing the exploitation of our nation's immigration system by those who would do harm to our country," he said.

Faris previously admitted to investigating how blowtorches could be used to sever the Brooklyn Bridge's suspension cables as part of an Al-Qaeda plot, but said he concluded in 2002 that security was too tight around the bridge to carry out an attack.

Based on reporting by AP and The Washington Times