Trump administration to deny green cards to applicants with record of anti-Israel speech
(JTA) — The Trump administration is instructing immigration officers to deny green cards to applicants who have expressed political views it deems “antisemitic” or “anti-American,” including some forms of pro-Palestinian speech.
The new guidance, which was first reported by the New York Times, discourages officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from giving green cards to immigrants who have engaged in activities “endorsing, promoting or supporting anti-American views” or “antisemitic terrorism, ideologies or groups.”
Officers were also told to “focus particularly on aliens who engaged in on-campus anti-American and antisemitic activities” after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and started the Gaza war.
The latest guidance follows an August 2025 announcement from USCIS that said the agency would begin vetting green card applicants for “anti-American” and “antisemitic” ideology. Earlier in the year, it said it would review the social media accounts of visa applicants, including international students, for what it defined as “antisemitic activity.”
The push also dovetails with a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses in the United States, with the Trump administration seeking to deport several prominent non-citizen students who had participated in such protests.
US forces redirect 42nd commercial ship amid blockade, CENTCOM says
(JNS) — U.S. forces have redirected a 42nd commercial vessel attempting to breach the maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since the operation began, according to U.S. Central Command.
“This is a reflection of the outstanding work America’s sons and daughters in uniform are doing to prevent maritime commerce from entering or exiting Iranian ports,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper stated on Wednesday.
“There are 41 tankers with 69 million barrels of oil that the Iranian regime can’t sell” because of the “highly effective” blockade, Cooper said. “That’s an estimated $6 billion-plus from which Iran’s leadership cannot financially benefit.”
The U.S. Navy has enforced the blockade since April 13, following failed U.S.-Iran talks, targeting vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports while allowing transit through the Strait of Hormuz for ships not bound for Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the blockade will remain in place until Iran agrees to a deal, Axios reported.
California plans to update content rules after voter guide includes candidate statement with Jew-hatred
(JNS) — California plans to make changes to its elections code to address hateful content in the official voters guide, the office of Shirley Weber, the California secretary of state, told JNS.
JNS sought comment from Weber’s office about antisemitic text in a statement from gubernatorial candidate Don Grundmann, who accused Israel of “countless war crimes,” including being responsible for the September 11 attacks.
A spokesman for Weber told JNS that “we are working with the legislature to propose changes addressing concerns raised related to candidate statements.”
“California elections code provisions must be updated to clearly address content that is not permitted, while preserving the ability of candidates to present their qualifications to voters,” the spokesman said.
The voter guide appended a disclaimer to Grundmann’s statement, and had a disclaimer at the bottom of each page. JNS asked the California secretary of state why there was no specific disclaimer attached to a statement from Glenn Turner, of the Green Party, wrote that “we must divest from Israel, weapons manufacturers and fossil fuels.”
Weber’s spokesman told JNS that the disclaimer “should not have been put in bold” above Grundmann’s statement “and has since been corrected on the online version of the guide.”
US soldier charged for threatening to ‘kill every single Jew’ inside of a synagogue
(JTA) — A soldier stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana was arrested last week after he told users on a messaging platform that he planned to conduct a mass shooting at a synagogue.
Jakob Marcoulier, 22, was arrested last Thursday and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce after the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received a tip in February that he had made threats toward synagogues, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the western district of Louisiana.
According to court documents, the FBI obtained audio of Marcoulier allegedly saying, “After this deployment if the Jews still have reign over our government, I am going to walk into a synagogue with my AK, with a 75-round drum mag, and all of my extra mags, with my level four plates, and my haka helmet that’s three plus, and I am going to kill every single Jew I know inside of that synagogue. And that’s my goal in life.”
During the communications, Marcoulier told the other users, “You guys will never do anything about but I will. I just have to finish this, I have to go back overseas and do what I have to do. And then you’ll see me in the news. I promise you.”
Fugitive wanted in Israel arrested in New Jersey
(JNS) — U.S. authorities arrested Yechiel Yehoshua Farkash, a fugitive in New Jersey, after Israel requested his arrest and extradition.
The 43-year-old was wanted on charges of sex crimes against children, immigration officials said on Wednesday.
Farkash, a resident of Lakewood, N.J., was arrested on April 17 by Homeland Security Investigations agents—federal law-enforcement officers within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security responsible for investigating transnational crime — and the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.
“Israeli authorities sought to prosecute Farkas for attempted rape and indecent acts involving children based on acts committed in Israel between 2020 and 2023,” officials said. “Pursuant to the U.S.-Israel extradition treaty, the government of Israel requested provisional arrest with a view toward extradition, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey obtained a provisional arrest warrant in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.”
Michael McCarthy, HSI Newark special agent in charge, said his team is committed to “ensuring the United States does not become a haven for criminal fugitives.”
