A prominent Irish-American lobby group collided with the new requirements for J1 visas, raising the fear that artificial intelligence screening for social media accounts is “widely used and error-prone.”
The Hibernians Ancient Order has said there are “deep concerns” about the US government directive, which requires a review of social media activities for up to five years for each J1 visa applicant, and gives consular officials “broad discretion.”
“However, without clear and objective standards and human oversight of AI screening, we risk eroding the integrity of the J-1 exchange visitor program, robbing participation among young applicants, US government, businesses, educational institutions, and important summer internships, and undermining the long-standing bonds that bind our bones.
Irish students usually travel to the US in large quantities each summer on a J1 visa, but under the Trump administration, privacy settings for all social media profiles must be adjusted to the general public.
The US State Department recently announced that it will “conduct a comprehensive and thorough review, including an online presence of all student and exchange visitor applicants,” under new guidance.
The Hibernian ancient order said that, given the way this review was applied, the policy threatened one of America's most successful cultural and economic partnerships with Ireland.
Officials said the term “inconsistent decisions” could be reached as terms such as “hospitality” or “advocacy” that aims to flag them during screening.
For students, looking back at social media, they say it could lead to returning to their early teens and treating youthful social media activities as security threats to the US before maturity.
“Given the volume of applicants and the vast dataset (5 years of social media activity per person), AI screening is expected to be widely used and error prone.
“In April 2025, doctoral student Sougle Onda was falsely flagged by an AI-led criminal record check over citing minor fishing restrictions in Japan's home country, causing visa cancellations to surge.”
In Onda's case, his visa has been revived, but J1 students were able to realize that they had already been sent home before the error was fixed.
The group added that the program will help promote important US sectors such as hospitality and tourism, and that businesses on the ground will feel the loss of Ireland's summer workers.
It asked Congress and policymakers to rule out social media content before someone turns 18, but also asked for a quarterly report on the use of AI screening, as well as a check of actual human beings for flagged content generated by AI.
Aontas Na MacLéinn, formerly of the Irish student coalition, also raised great concerns about the measure, saying it would send “a damaging signal.”
