Yes. Having "foreign contacts" is bad, even family members. If the family was somewhere like china then these would be called "adversarial foreign contacts". Culture has changed in the last ten years. People with grandparents in china are having significant problems when applying for jobs/clearances.

https://clearedjobs.net/guides/security-clearance-foreign-co...

>> A foreign national spouse who is a citizen of the United Kingdom will be evaluated very differently from a foreign national spouse who is a citizen of China or Russia. Both must be disclosed fully, but the national security concern level is substantially different. Applicants with significant ties to adversarial countries face more intensive investigations and, in some cases, may not be eligible for certain programs even if their individual loyalty is not in question.

This is for security clearances, not just any old job, and has been the case for forever. Even Taiwan and Israel are considered suspect.

Even without this mandatory polygraphing and the absurd rules around lifetime drug use are enough to rule these roles out of contention for many.

I think it’s less about loyalty to the US and more about the fact that loved ones in adversarial countries are pressure points those countries can push on.