On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration would implement new visa restrictions targeting foreigners “complicit” in censoring Americans.
“Even as we take action to reject censorship at home, we see troubling instances of foreign governments and foreign officials picking up the slack,” Rubio <a href="https://www.state.gov/announcement-of-a-visa-restriction-policy-targeting-foreign-nationals-who-censor-americans/">stated</a>. “In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against U.S. tech companies and U.S. citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so.”
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” he continued. “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil.  It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.  We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.”
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“Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country,” Rubio wrote on X. “Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country. Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio/status/1927729604598342023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Tuesday, Rubio issued a cable to U.S. embassies and consulates stating that the State Department would temporarily stop interviews abroad with foreign citizens applying for student and exchange visas. “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel (separate telegram) which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/27/trump-team-orders-stop-to-new-student-visa-interviews-as-it-weighs-expanding-social-media-vetting-00370501">stated</a>, per POLITICO.

Passport on the desk of an American businessman

Rubio Announces New Visa Restrictions For Foreigners Who Censor Americans

Censorship

Foreigner

Global Politics

Marco Rubio

Politics

Visa

The Trump administration is blocking all new student visa interviews in preparation for upcoming social media vetting requirements for all international students.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a cable on Tuesday directing U.S. embassies to &#8220;not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued &#8230; which we anticipate in the coming days,&#8221; according to a document POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/27/trump-team-orders-stop-to-new-student-visa-interviews-as-it-weighs-expanding-social-media-vetting-00370501" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a>.
The pause affects all applicants for student visas while the administration reportedly prepares guidance for expanded social media vetting requirements.
This represents yet another blow to the finances of dozens of elite universities from the Trump administration, which has cut billions in federal grants for Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Yale, in addition to threatening their tax-exempt status over free speech violations and DEI initiatives.
The more than 1 million international students in the United States represent a significant revenue source for many American higher education institutions, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/05/25/international-students-harvard-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">constituting</a> nearly 30% of Harvard’s student body.
Several prestigious institutions have faced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-apologizes-for-inaction-after-students-antisemitic-abuser-pleads-guilty?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=46&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=University+Apologizes+For+Inaction+After+Student%E2%80%99s+Antisemitic+Abuser+Pleads+Guilty">accusations</a> of tolerating antisemitism and allowing foreign influence to spread unchecked on their campuses, issues that gained heightened attention after Hamas&#8217; October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and subsequent campus protests.
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This directive broadens the scope of the administration&#8217;s previous social media vetting, which had primarily focused on students returning to the U.S. after potentially participating in pro-Hamas protests.
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-to-screen-immigrants-and-foreign-students-social-media-for-anti-semitism?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=43&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Homeland+Security+To+Screen+Immigrants+And+Foreign+Students%E2%80%99+Social+Media+For+Anti-Semitism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in early April that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would begin screening foreign students&#8217; social media for antisemitic content and any history of physically harassing Jews.
In the screening process, USCIS is considering any social media content that “indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.”
The Tuesday cable references executive orders aimed at keeping terrorists out of the country and combating antisemitism, though it doesn&#8217;t explicitly detail what the future vetting would screen for.
The State Department has not provided additional details about when the expanded vetting requirements will be implemented or how long the pause on new visa appointments might last, at the time of writing.
The Trump administration has consistently prioritized national security concerns in its immigration policies, with particular focus on identifying potential threats before they enter the country and addressing what it views as ideological bias in academic institutions.
“I think it’s crazy to invite students into your country that are coming onto your campus and destabilizing it,” Rubio <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-to-screen-immigrants-and-foreign-students-social-media-for-anti-semitism">said</a> in April. “Every country in the world has a right to decide who comes in as a visitor and who doesn’t.&#8221;

Supreme Court Rules Affirmative Action Is Unconstitutional In Landmark Case With Harvard And UNC

Trump Admin Freezes All New Student Visa Interviews In Major Blow To Elite Universities

American Universities

Anti-Semitism

Education

foreign students

Free Speech

Hamas

Harvard

Israel

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is unveiling a new visa &#8220;Gold Card&#8221; to attract wealthy immigrants to the U.S.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to be selling a Gold Card,&#8221; Trump said in the Oval Office while speaking to reporters. &#8220;You have a Green Card. This is a Gold Card. We&#8217;re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that&#8217;s going to give you Green Card privileges, plus it&#8217;s going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;ll be wealthy, and they&#8217;ll be successful, and they&#8217;ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it&#8217;s going to be extremely successful,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Never been done before anything like this, but it&#8217;s something that we&#8217;re going to be putting out over the next two weeks.&#8221;
He said that the Gold Card will attract &#8220;very high level people&#8221; who create jobs.
&#8220;So you&#8217;re getting big taxpayers, big job producers, and we&#8217;ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;And if you add up the numbers, they&#8217;re pretty good. As an example, a million cards would be worth $5 trillion, $5 trillion. And if you sell 10 million of the cards, that&#8217;s a total of $50 trillion well, we have $35 trillion in debt. That&#8217;d be nice, so we&#8217;ll see.&#8221;
He said that the administration has already worked out the deal from a legal standpoint and that it is good to go.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump announces the U.S. will replace the EB-5 program with a new &#8220;Gold Card.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;ll be able to pay $5 million to the U.S. government. They&#8217;ll have to go through vetting, of course &#8230; The President can give them a green card — and they can invest in America and we… <a href="https://t.co/xcJntSkHtm">pic.twitter.com/xcJntSkHtm</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1894505358577569899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2025</a></blockquote>

President Trump Signs Executive Orders At The White House

Trump Introduces $5 Million ‘Gold Card’ That Wealthy People Can Buy To Come To America

Donald Trump

Executive

Immigration

U.S.

Several of the illegal immigrants Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis flew to Martha&#8217;s Vineyard in 2022 have since been approved for U-visas — based on claims that they were the victims of a crime.
According to a <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04/22/metro/desantis-migrants-marthas-vineyard-legal-status/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Monday by The Boston Globe, three of the 49 illegal immigrants who were transported from San Antonio, Texas, to Florida and then to Martha&#8217;s Vineyard have been granted what&#8217;s called a &#8220;bona fide determination&#8221; – meaning that they qualify for a U-visa but have not yet received it.
U-visas are typically &#8220;set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,&#8221; <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-of-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status#:~:text=The%20U%20nonimmigrant%20status%20(U,or%20prosecution%20of%20criminal%20activity." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
And in this particular case, they cooperated with a Bexar County Sheriff&#8217;s investigation into whether any of them had been lured or coerced into getting on the flights. The investigation lasted about one month, and Sheriff Javier Salazar concluded that the illegal immigrants involved had been &#8220;lured &#8230; under false pretenses&#8221; to board the planes and then said they were &#8220;unceremoniously stranded&#8221; upon their arrival in Martha&#8217;s Vineyard. DeSantis has repeatedly denied any coercion, saying that all migrants <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-investigate-desantis-for-flying-migrants-to-marthas-vineyard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boarded the flights</a> &#8220;voluntarily.&#8221;
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Official U-visas could take up to ten years to approve because Congress only allows 10,000 to be issued annually — but the &#8220;bona fide determinations&#8221; protect recipients from deportation until their visas arrive and allow them to legally work in the United States during that time as well. U-visas also put recipients on a path to obtaining green cards.
Hemanth C. Gundavaram, co-founder and director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at Northeastern University School of Law, explained to The Globe that the goal was to help correct for &#8220;a failure in our system,&#8221; noting that in order to qualify for U-visas, the illegal immigrants must first be shown to be the victims of crimes and then had to assist law enforcement or the government in any investigation that followed.
&#8220;This is a harm reduction provision. If you didn’t have these protections, someone would have to stay here, worry about deportation, and not be able to make a living,&#8221; he said.

Venezuelan Migrants

‘Crime Victim’ Visas Approved For Migrants Who Were Flown To Martha’s Vineyard

'Crime Victim' Visas Approved For Migrants Who Were Flown To Martha's Vineyard

Border Crisis

Florida

Illegal Immigration

Martha's Vineyard

Massachusetts

Ron DeSantis

After Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio sent a letter to the State Department requesting they conduct a review and coordination effort to revoke the visas of those who have endorsed or espoused Hamas’ terrorist activity on U.S. soil, the State Department admitted in a return letter they indeed had the authority to revoke those visas.
The State Department took a full month to respond as Rubio had sent his letter on October 15 and their response was dated November 15.
“As you are aware, the Secretary of State designated Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act on October 8, 1997,” the State Department acknowledged. “Our first priority when adjudicating visa applications is to ensure applicants do not pose a security risk to the United States. Every prospective traveler to the United States undergoes extensive security screening. This screening draws on information from the full range of U.S. government agencies, including biographic and biometric screening against U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism databases. No visa is issued until all concerns raised by the screening process are fully resolved.”
Then the State Department admitted, “The Department of State also has broad authority under the INA to revoke visas. We exercise that authority when there is information or evidence indicating a visa holder may be ineligible for a U.S. visa. When we receive derogatory information that indicates potential visa ineligibility, we take immediate actions, such as entering the information into U.S. government databases and revoking visas if deemed appropriate.”
“State Department confirms they have the power to revoke the visas of Hamas supporters and deport them. Now they need to do it,” Rubio tweeted upon receipt of the letter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
State Department confirms they have the power to revoke the visas of Hamas supporters and deport them. Now they need to do it. <a href="https://t.co/vCXyKufhad">pic.twitter.com/vCXyKufhad</a>
&mdash; Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1724943837343219866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At the end of October, FBI Director Christopher Wray <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/hamas-attack-galvanizing-terror-groups-worldwide-warn-us-officials/7335141.html">warned</a> that the Israel-Hamas war had raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a higher level, telling the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, “We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven&#8217;t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate several years ago. &#8230; In just the past few weeks, multiple foreign terrorist organizations have called for attacks against Americans and the West.”
National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Director Christine Abizaid said the war was being utilized as “a feature of messaging and propaganda” from various terror groups, adding, “We&#8217;ve seen it from al-Qaida affiliates, almost every single one. We&#8217;ve also seen it from ISIS, which ideologically isn&#8217;t aligned with a group like Hamas, but is still leveraging this current conflict. They are seeking to capitalize on this moment to galvanize supporters and organize further attacks.”

Rubio Gets State Department To Admit They Can Revoke Visas Of Hamas Supporters In U.S.

State Department

Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.D. Vance</a> (R-OH) is introducing legislation to crack down on illegal visa overstays — and it&#8217;s about time.
Consider that the 9/11 Commission <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-visa-loophole-thats-been-open-since-911/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommended</a> that the U.S. should focus on the prevention of visa overstays to protect national security. And yet, nearly 22 years later, hundreds of thousands of individuals still take advantage of America&#8217;s visa system.
&#8220;America is a welcoming nation, but we are also a nation of laws,” Vance said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. &#8220;There are millions of people in this country who have abused our visa system and circumvented our legal immigration process.&#8221;
To help stop this problem, Vance is introducing  the &#8220;Timely Departure Act.&#8221; Under this bill, foreigners who enter the U.S. under the visa program would be required to deposit up to $15,000 to the Department of Homeland Security prior to entering the country. If they exit the country in the required amount of time, they would be given that money back. However, if they fail to leave, then the money is put into an account that can &#8220;only be used to fund the detention and removal of illegal aliens.&#8221;
&#8220;It is a slap in the face to the working-class Ohioans whose wages are suffering &#8212; I will not stand for it,&#8221; Vance said of those who take advantage of America&#8217;s immigration system. &#8220;I’m proud to introduce this legislation and bring some sanity to our broken immigration system.&#8221;
According to a <a href="https://www.fairus.org/blog/2023/06/30/new-report-highlights-visa-overstays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent report</a> from DHS, there were 853,955 overstays in fiscal year 2022. And that&#8217;s on top of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, who illegally crossed the southern border.
Jessica Vaughn of the Center for Immigration Studies noted in 2022 that visa overstays &#8220;are a significant contributor to our nation&#8217;s illegal immigration problem.&#8221;
Vaughan told The Washington Examiner,  &#8220;ICE should be directed to expand enforcement programs that target overstays. Laws should be tweaked to impose the same penalties for overstayers as illegal border crossers.&#8221;
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&#8220;Congress should continue to press DHS to build the biometric entry-exit system that will help maintain the integrity of the visa programs,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/record-16-8-million-illegal-immigrants-cost-us-163-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
Maybe DHS can use some of the funds scrounged up thanks to Vance&#8217;s bill, should it ever become law.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

JD Vance

Time To End Immigrant Visa Overstay Abuse, U.S. Senator Says. Here’s His Plan To Fix It.

Time To End Immigrant Visa Overstay Abuse, U.S. Senator Says. Here's His Plan To Fix It.

Ohio

After gun control advocates persuaded credit card companies to use a new merchant category code (MCC) to help track gun purchases, gun advocates fought back and got the credit card companies to back down.
At the end of August 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, and trustees of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, and Board of Education Retirement System <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/630-22/mayor-adams-comptroller-lander-pension-trustees-other-elected-leaders-call-credit-card#/0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> American Express, MasterCard, and Visa to support establishing a merchant category code (MCC) for gun and ammunition stores.
In September 2022, Amalgamated Bank announced its application to the International Standards Organization for a new merchant category code (MCC) for gun and ammunition stores had been approved.
“We all have to do our part to stop gun violence,” Priscilla Sims Brown, the president and CEO of Amalgamated Bank, <a href="https://amalgamatedbank.com/news/amalgamated-bank-petition-new-code-gun-and-ammunition-stores-has-been-approved-international" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated.</a> “And it sometimes starts with illegal purchases of guns and ammunition. The new code will allow us to fully comply with our duty to report suspicious activity and illegal gun sales to authorities without blocking or impeding legal gun sales. This action answers the call of millions of Americans who want safety from gun violence and we are proud to have led the broad coalition of advocates, shareholders, and elected officials that achieved this historic outcome.”
The same month, 24 attorneys general from around the nation, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, sent a <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MTAG/2022/09/20/file_attachments/2274582/Second%20Amendment%20&amp;%20ISO%20Merchant%20Code%20Multistate%20Letter%20%28Final%202%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the CEOs of American Express, Mastercard, and Visa, stating:
<blockquote>
As Attorneys General, we have the privilege of protecting our citizens from corporate coordination that hurts consumers. We are also charged with ensuring that consumer data is not unlawfully gathered or used. &#8230; Be advised that we will marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to protect our citizens and consumers from unlawful attempts to undermine their constitutional rights. Please keep that in mind as you consider whether to proceed with adopting and implementing this Merchant Category Code.
</blockquote>
But now, the credit card companies have backed down. Reason Magazine’s J.D. Tuccile <a href="https://reason.com/2023/03/13/credit-cards-pause-efforts-to-track-gun-purchases-after-pushback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that a Discover representative emailed him, “To continue alignment and interoperability with the industry, Discover is removing the new merchant category code identified as MCC 5723 from our April 23.1 Network Release.”
A MasterCard representative added, “Today, there are bills advancing in several states related to the use of this new code. If passed, the result will be an inconsistency in how this ISO standard could be applied by merchants, issuers, acquirers and networks. It&#8217;s for that reason that we have decided to pause work on the implementation of the firearms-specific MCC.”
Visa and American Express are also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/visa-mastercard-pause-work-on-code-aimed-at-gun-purchases?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;leadSource=uverify%20wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly pausing</a> the implementation of the MCC.

Fireworks For Sale Ahead Of The July 4th Holiday

Credit Card Companies Were Ready To Track Gun Purchases. Gun Advocates Got Them To Back Down.

American Express

Discover

Gun Control

Mastercard

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/visa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visa</a> and Mastercard paused plans to track gun and ammunition purchases after receiving blowback to the plan from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gun-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gun rights</a> advocates and supporters.
The payment processors <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/visa-to-categorize-sales-at-gun-stores-in-win-for-gun-control-advocates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last year that they would adopt the International Organization for Standardization’s new merchant category code that could be used to better track gun and ammunition purchases from gun stores. The move riled gun rights supporters and provoked Republican lawmakers and attorneys general to take action against the payment processors.
Visa, the world’s largest payment processor, and Mastercard are now pausing adoption of the new code after the stiff opposition and in the face of several states moving forward with legislation that would block such tracking, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/visa-mastercard-pause-work-on-code-aimed-at-gun-purchases" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>.
“There are bills advancing in several states related to the use of this new code. If passed, the result will be an inconsistency in how this ISO standard could be applied by merchants, issuers, acquirers and networks,” a spokesman for Visa told Bloomberg. “It’s for that reason that we have decided to pause work on the implementation of the firearms-specific MCC.”
Second Amendment supporters hailed the announcement as a victory for gun rights.
“Well done, it’s about time. US companies should not be taking orders from international NGOs to target legal industries,” <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorHagerty/status/1633866528125747209" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN). “This politicization of our financial sector must stop.”
Nearly two dozen GOP attorneys general sent a letter to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express in September over plans to adopt the new code and track gun and ammo purchases. The state prosecutors warned the companies that such tracking could be used to infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights
“Categorizing the constitutionally protected right to purchase firearms unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers alike,” the attorneys general <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/23-republican-ags-warn-credit-card-companies-to-abandon-plan-to-identify-gun-sales" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “We will marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to protect our citizens and consumers from unlawful attempts to undermine their constitutional rights.”
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Republicans in Congress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-house-republicans-demand-answers-from-credit-card-giants-categorizing-sales-at-gun-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> similar concerns. They said that the new code could be a workaround to creating a gun registry monitored by private corporations instead of by the federal government.
The credit card companies moved to adopt the code after facing pressure from Democrats who said that tracking gun purchases could cut down on mass shootings.
“Credit card companies like @Visa, @Mastercard, and @AmericanExpress can and should do more to help stop mass shootings,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tweeted on September 6, adding that she is “urging these companies to step up and help identify suspicious purchases to prevent gun violence.”

Gun Store

Visa, Mastercard Suspend Plans To Track Gun Purchases After Blowback

General

Gun Rights

Second Amendment

The state of Florida issued a forceful response Wednesday to credit card companies that want to start tracking gun and ammunition sales, saying that if they proceed that the state will pass a law punishing those companies.
Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have reportedly decided to separately categorize firearm purchases at gun stores in a move that was praised by far-Left gun control advocates.
The credit card companies adopted the new Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) after they were set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis issued a strong <a href="https://www.myfloridacfo.com/news/newsletter/archive/news-details/2022/09/21/cfo-jimmy-patronis-florida-will-act-against-credit-card-companies-who-target-the-2nd-amendment">statement</a> warning that if the companies proceed with their plans that they will face penalties from the state of Florida.
&#8220;The second amendment is foundational to our American way of life,&#8221; Patronis said. &#8220;The idea that law-abiding Americans would be put on some kind of corporate watchlist is disturbing. Our rights come from our Creator, not the government, and especially not big corporations. It is clear that the actions by these credit card companies are part of a larger effort to curtail God-given constitutional rights of Americans. It is also symptomatic of the virus known as ESG, which is part of a global effort to socially re-engineer the country that we love so much. There is no way we are going to allow that to happen in the free state of Florida.&#8221;
&#8220;If we come to the legislative session and companies like Visa, Mastercard and American Express are generating these reports to create a chilling effect against the purchase of firearms, then I’ll work with the Legislature to pass a law penalizing businesses who are targeting the right to bear arms,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We’ve seen a groundbreaking ruling come out of the Fifth Circuit limiting corporations’ ability to curtail American’s constitutional rights, so we are on solid legal footing to pursue a bill protecting Floridians 2nd Amendment Rights. We can also take it a step further by barring these companies from doing any business with the State of Florida. We will send a message out to these large corporations that if you are interested in doing business with Florida, you need to make sure that you’re protecting Floridians right to arm and defend themselves.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-house-republicans-demand-answers-from-credit-card-giants-categorizing-sales-at-gun-stores">More Than 100 House Republicans Demand Answers From Credit Card Giants Categorizing Sales At Gun Stores</a>

Governor DeSantis Orlando theme parks roundtable

Florida Issues Forceful Response To Credit Card Companies That Want To Track Gun And Ammo Sales

The Republican attorneys general of 23 states are expected to send a letter Tuesday opposing plans by Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to add a new code to identify gun purchases made at firearm retailers.
“Categorizing the constitutionally protected right to purchase firearms unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers alike,” a draft of the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/visa-mastercard-amex-face-calls-from-gop-attorneys-general-to-abandon-gun-shop-code-11663674954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> reads, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“We will marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to protect our citizens and consumers from unlawful attempts to undermine their constitutional rights,” it added.
The letter is led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudson, according to the report.
The attorneys general of California and New York recently sent letters to the three companies to encourage the new categorization of gun purchases. The request came after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-scotus-strikes-down-new-york-concealed-carry-restrictions-restrictions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struck down</a> a New York law in June that included unconstitutional requirements for issuing concealed-carry permits.
Tuesday&#8217;s letter adds to a letter from more than 100 House Republicans last week demanding answers from major credit card companies over the controversial decision to separately categorize gun sales.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-house-republicans-demand-answers-from-credit-card-giants-categorizing-sales-at-gun-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, House GOP leaders also sent <a href="https://stefanik.house.gov/_cache/files/3/2/327afb2a-664b-41dc-ba6c-ce0f93af68ad/B339C19813330E1FBB3AD3B51FA773F2.rep.-stefanik-letter-to-visa.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letters</a> to the CEOs of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) led the effort to demand that the companies answer questions about their decision to adopt new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/visa-to-categorize-sales-at-gun-stores-in-win-for-gun-control-advocates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Merchant Category Codes</a> (MCCs) set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The House letter sought details regarding the prospective standards and questioned whether categorizing gun purchases and flagging law enforcement was an attempt to skirt federal law by effectively creating a gun registry.
“As you know, the ISO uses four-digit codes known as MCCs to classify merchants and businesses by the type of goods or services provided,” the letter said. “There were already two MCCs that captured legal firearm sales, 5999 for Miscellaneous Retail Stores and 5941 for Sporting Goods Stores.”
Visa that revealed plans on September 10 for the company to join Mastercard and American Express in the move to separately categorize gun purchases.
Gun rights advocates see the move as an erosion of Second Amendment rights.
“The [industry’s] decision to create a firearm specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time,” said National Rifle Association spokesman Lars Dalseide, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-violence-shootings-new-york-city-politics-4aae50c67e40f9683f604a8683acc391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Associated Press.
Many Democratic lawmakers, however, have supported the new categorization, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean. &#8220;Credit card companies like @Visa, @Mastercard, and @AmericanExpress can and should do more to help stop mass shootings. @RepDean and I are urging these companies to step up and help identify suspicious purchases to prevent gun violence,&#8221; Warren tweeted earlier this month.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Credit card companies like <a href="https://twitter.com/Visa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Visa</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Mastercard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mastercard</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/AmericanExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AmericanExpress</a> can and should do more to help stop mass shootings.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepDean?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepDean</a> and I are urging these companies to step up and help identify suspicious purchases to prevent gun violence.<a href="https://t.co/kkqsYxpmzd">https://t.co/kkqsYxpmzd</a>
&mdash; Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1567214955690135552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Fictitious firearms hanging on the wall of a gun store. 3D rendering.

23 Republican AGs Warn Credit Card Companies To Abandon Plan To Identify Gun Sales

Attorney General

Left-wing activism on the part of corporations has hardly been unusual in recent years. What often flies under the radar, however, is how frequently progressive groups are able to strong-arm private businesses into entering the arena of politics against their will. Credit card companies being forced to track the sales of guns and ammunition is just such a situation.
After years of gun control measures failing at the ballot box and the Supreme Court, Amalgamated Bank — the largest union-owned bank in the country — hit upon a way to end-run around voters and the Constitution.
Billing the company as the nation’s most socially-responsible bank, its CEO Priscilla Sims Brown began lobbying the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to create a four-digit merchant code to track the sale of guns and ammunition purchased on credit. As a global standards body, the Geneva-based ISO has no authority to make laws or enforce regulations. But like many other American industries, the financial services sector willingly allows the group to set policies for their business.
When Brown first made her request to ISO in July 2021, arguing that it’s necessary to stop mass shootings and crack down on gun trafficking, the credit card companies pushed back. As part of an advisory committee on ISO’s decision, American Express argued that employing a specific merchant code in such a narrow retail category would be too difficult. &#8220;Managing long lists of narrowly defined MCCs can become burdensome if there isn&#8217;t a compelling reason for the long list,” Amex wrote. To the company&#8217;s point, while most retail items like groceries and other common goods have merchant codes, they tend to be broad. Before this, for instance, gun sales were simply classified under sporting goods.
MasterCard acknowledged to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bank-credit-cards-suspect-gun-ammo-sales/">CBS</a> at the time that the company “[believes] that it is the responsibility of elected officials to enact meaningful policies to address the issue of gun violence.&#8221; In other words, MasterCard felt the question of whether it is appropriate to track gun purchases properly belongs to the legislators, accountable to the will of the people, rather than an unelected global administrative state.
Amalgamated’s petition was denied.
Yet Brown wasn&#8217;t done. She appealed the decision in February, but was again denied because the code would only apply to small stores that specifically deal in firearms and ammunitions. It wouldn’t capture guns and ammunition purchases at general retailers like Walmart or big sporting goods chains like Dick&#8217;s, placing an undue burden on small venders.
Running a financial institution backed by the SEIU and Workers United, Brown is in a better position than most executives to understand how to ratchet up pressure to achieve desired political outcomes. She went back to ISO a third time after giving <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/business/dealbook/gun-violence-amalgamated-bank-code.html">numerous</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bank-credit-cards-suspect-gun-ammo-sales/">media</a> <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/07/14/amalgamated-ceo-on-tackling-gun-reform-track-gun-purchases-through-merchant-codes.html">interviews</a> and soliciting support from the anti-Second-Amendment group, Guns Down America, as well as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and around 40 Congressional Democrats, who sent a letter to the credit card companies urging them to back Brown’s request.
MasterCard and Visa once again made it clear that they did not back the measure, with Visa saying in a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/credit-card-sales-of-guns-and-ammo-merchant-codes/">response</a> to Democrats, “We believe that asking payment networks to serve as a moral authority by deciding which legal goods can or cannot be purchased sets a dangerous precedent.”
This time, however, the pleas of the financial services giants fell on deaf ears. On September 9, ISO agreed to create the new merchant category code.
The issues critics, including the credit card companies themselves, have brought up regarding the gun purchase code have not disappeared — only purchases at mom and pop gun dealers will be tracked and the Democratic process had no hand in the decision. Visa went so far as to post a statement to its web site on September 13, registering its disagreement with the decision. &#8220;It would be an invasion of consumers’ privacy for banks and payment networks to know each of our most personal purchasing habits. Visa is firmly against this,&#8221; it stated.
Yet the company, along with MasterCard, Amex, and Discovery, says it plans to abide by ISO’s ruling, though the body holds no power over them.
Republicans are beginning to mount a response to what they say could easily become a national gun registry.
“I mean, obviously, [the credit card companies] have been pressured to do this,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told The Daily Wire. “We do know that there have been Wall Street banks that have not been willing to provide financial services to people in the firearm industry — that is not anything new. That says to me, this is just one more data point in a direction of a lot of very powerful financial institutions wanting to do indirectly what elected Democrats have not been able to do directly, in terms of in terms of restricting the firearms industry.”
A group of 100 House Republicans, led by New York’s Elise Stefanik, have sent letters to Mastercard, American Express and Visa seeking information about their reported decision to begin implementing the tracking codes. &#8220;Of course, there is no accepted, consistent, scientific, or legitimate way to determine from this date what is and what is not a ‘suspicious’ purchase,&#8221; the letter read. &#8220;A gun control advocate could view any desire to own or obtain a firearm as per se suspicious. Instead, this is a transparent attempt to chill the exercise of constitutionally protected rights and to circumvent existing legal restrictions on the creation of firearm registries by the government.&#8221;
The NRA too, is pushing back, saying in a statement, “Implying that firearm purchases are suspicious demonstrates an obvious bias these attorneys general hold against choosing to exercise a fundamental constitutional right.”
What the history of corporate politics demonstrates, though, is just how difficult it is to get companies to reverse course, even when they’re headed in a direction they clearly don’t want to go.

Credit card detail photo focused on raised printed numbers

How The Left Is Forcing Credit Card Companies To Become Anti-Gun Activists

Banks

Gun Sales

Leftists

Readers Pass

Wall Street

More than 100 House Republicans are demanding answers from major credit card companies over the controversial decision to categorize <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/guns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gun</a> sales.
In <a href="https://stefanik.house.gov/_cache/files/3/2/327afb2a-664b-41dc-ba6c-ce0f93af68ad/B339C19813330E1FBB3AD3B51FA773F2.rep.-stefanik-letter-to-visa.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letters</a> to the CEOs of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and House Republicans demanded the companies answer questions about their decision to adopt new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/visa-to-categorize-sales-at-gun-stores-in-win-for-gun-control-advocates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Merchant Category Codes</a> (MCCs) set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that would categorize gun purchases separately from other purchases. The Republican members asked the creditors to provide their prospective standards to the public, and questioned whether categorizing gun purchases and flagging law enforcement was an attempt to skirt federal law by effectively creating a gun registry.
&#8220;As you know, the ISO uses four-digit codes known as MCCs to classify merchants and businesses by the type of goods or services provided,&#8221; the members began. &#8220;There were already two MCCs that captured legal firearm sales, 5999 for Miscellaneous Retail Stores and 5941 for Sporting Goods Stores.&#8221;
In July 2021, the left-wing activist banking firm Amalgamated Bank applied for the ISO to adopt a separate Category Code for firearm dealers. The ISO rejected the application in October, along with an appeal filed in November 2021, the Republican members noted. The ISO said at the time that such a narrow category would fail to capture gun sales at sporting goods stores and would place an undue burden on small firearm retailers.
Both Visa and American Express raised concerns about the effort to establish a firearm-specific MCC. &#8220;Specific MCC [codes] in narrow [retail] areas are challenging,&#8221; an employee from American Express told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/credit-card-companies-gun-sales-congress-letters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a> in September. &#8220;Managing long lists of narrowly defined MCCs can become burdensome if there isn&#8217;t a compelling reason for the long list.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/credit-card-sales-of-guns-and-ammo-merchant-codes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visa</a> also urged caution, warning against financial institutions acting as moral arbiters. &#8220;We believe that asking payment networks to serve as a moral authority by deciding which legal goods can or cannot be purchased sets a dangerous precedent,&#8221; the company wrote in a letter to Congressional Democrats who pushed for the credit card companies to adopt the new standard, via CBS.
Amalgamated Bank reapplied for the new MCC in June of this year. This time, the ISO relented, adopting the new MCC. Amalgamated Bank subsequently &#8220;stated its intent to utilize software to flag allegedly suspicious purchases made by Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights and file these red flags with law enforcement,&#8221; the lawmakers noted. &#8220;Of course, there is no accepted, consistent, scientific, or legitimate way to determine from this data what is and what is not a &#8216;suspicious&#8217; purchase. A gun control advocate could view any desire to own or obtain a firearm as per se suspicious. Instead, this is a transparent attempt to chill the exercise of constitutionally protected rights and to circumvent existing legal restrictions on the creation of firearm registries by the government.&#8221;
The lawmakers then asked the credit card giants to answer questions about their intentions in adopting the new standards:
<ul>
<li>Whether the companies actually support the ISO&#8217;s decision to create the new MCC, and if so, why the companies changed their view.</li>
<li>What criteria the companies will use to flag transactions for suspicious activity; how these criteria were devised, and what evidence there is to show that they will only focus on criminal intent and not on lawful purchases; and whether the companies will make these criteria public and share them with their cardholders.</li>
<li>How the companies will inform users about the impacts of implementing the policy; and whether they will notify and solicit feedback from customers.</li>
<li>Whether the companies will notify customers when their lawful transactions have been flagged and sent to law enforcement; if not, why they believe that it is not important to notify the customer.</li>
<li>Whether the companies have considered the &#8220;reputational risks and the possible implications for your 
fiduciary duties to shareholders&#8221; of potentially alienating a sizable number of the 100 million gun owners in the United States and the millions of prospective and potential gun buyers.</li>
<li>If the companies are aware this move could be perceived as an attempt to circumvent federal law by effectively creating a national firearm registry.</li>
<li>Whether the companies solicited input from the firearm industry before making this decision.</li>
<li>Whether the companies did their due diligence, including considering DOJ statistics, which show that a very small percentage of those who commit crimes with guns purchase them at gun stores subject to the new rules.</li>
</ul>
A total of 101 House Republicans signed the letter.

Elise Stefanik

Stefanik, More Than 100 House Republicans Demand Answers From Credit Card Giants Categorizing Sales At Gun Stores

House Republicans

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