WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has directed U.S. diplomatic missions to identify "populations warranting increased scrutiny" and toughen screening for visa applicants in those groups, according to diplomatic cables seen by Reuters.
He has also ordered a "mandatory social media check" for all applicants who have ever been present in territory controlled by the Islamic State, in what two former U.S. officials said would be a broad, labour-intensive expansion of such screening. Social media screening is now done fairly rarely by consular officials, one of the former officials said.