New Trump plan: Pull visa and deport foreigners who trivialised Charlie Kirk murder

In the two weeks since the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead in Utah, US President Donald Trump’s administration has intensified its crackdown on foreigners using his case as another blockade. After Kirk’s untimely demise, US officials said that they have been searching for public comments celebrating or joking about his death.

According to The New York Times, officials are going as far as calling on the public to help find people who are lauding Kirk’s demise. As per the report, the Trump administration believes that the penalty for such insensitive remarks should be losing the right to enter the United States.

In light of this, dozens of people appear to be in line to be barred from the country, including a Brazilian congressman, Mexican political commentators and a South African journalist, according to online posts from a State Department official. “If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week. “You are not welcome in this country," he furthered.

The broader campaign: Targeting the enemies

The search is seen as being part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign of retribution against anyone perceived to have trivialised, condoned or wrongly cast blame in Kirk’s murder. One of the prime examples of this is when Disney temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s show amid conservative criticism of his comments about the shooting.

The search also represents another striking case in which the administration appeared to be using political ideology as a litmus test for which foreigners can visit, work and live in the United States. “This is highly unusual,” Ricardo Zúñiga, a former senior State Department official who served under five presidents, including Trump, told the New York Times. “Would the same rules apply to someone who ridiculed attacks on opponents of the administration?”

In January, Trump barred foreigners who expressed hostilities towards American “citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles.” Meanwhile, in March, Rubio ordered his staff to inspect some student visa applicants’ online posts for antisemitism.

In June, the State Department eventually announced that it may require many applicants to make their social media content public. And in July, an official testified that online criticism of the war in Gaza could weigh against applicants. However, many called Trump’s latest plans against Kirk’s critics highly controversial.