#OTD in 1984, George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four about the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation begins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
#BigBrother #NewSpeak #ThoughtPolice #Surveillance

#Trump takes aim at foreign-born college students, with 300 visas revoked

Some students have been picked up off the street by immigration agents and held in detention centers, sometimes a thousand miles away from their homes, with little warning

By Daniella Silva, Chloe Atkins, Julia Ainsley and Abigail Williams, March 27, 2025

"Secretary of State #MarcoRubio said Thursday the State Department has revoked 300 or more #StudentVisas, as the White House increasingly targets foreign-born students whose main transgression seems to be #activism.

"Rubio warned that the administration was looking out for 'these lunatics.' Around the country, #scholars have been picked up, in some cases by masked immigration agents, and held in #DetentionCenters, sometimes a thousand miles from their homes with little warning and often with few details about why they were being detained.

"'It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,' Rubio said at a news conference in Guyana, where he was meeting with leaders.

"Many of those rounded up by Trump officials attended or were part of the pro-Palestinian movement that swept college campuses last year, and while the administration hasn’t said publicly why these students are being singled out over others, at least one sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeared on lists made by far-right pro-Israel groups as targets for deportation.

"And Trump allies, many in government again, telegraphed for months before he took office that they’d seek to deport students who openly advocated for Hamas or other U.S.-designated terrorist groups or after they participated in an unauthorized campus #protest and were suspended, expelled or jailed.

"The detentions are a signal of a broader effort by President Donald Trump to clamp down on the actions of legal permanent residents, student visa holders and others who live and work legally in the United States, one that threatens to undermine a fundamental American right to #FreeSpeech and to assemble, experts and advocates said."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-administration-takes-aim-immigrant-students-rcna198346?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#USPol #ThoughtPolice #Authoritarianism #Orwellian #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Clampdown #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingActivism #RightToAssemble #FirstAmendment #USPol

*** This report may not be accurate. Times of India is the only outlet reporting it. ***

Hundreds of international #students have received an email telling them their #visas have been revoked.

The ‘justification’ is campus #activism or #SocialMedia posts.

#Trump #immigration #law #Constitution #CivilRights #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #FreedomOfAssembly #Education #Universities #Colleges #ThoughtPolice #ViewPointDiscrimination #dissent #NaziState
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/hundreds-of-international-students-are-waking-up-to-an-email-asking-them-to-self-deport-for-campus-activism-or-even-sharing-posts-on-social-media/articleshow/119679695.cms

#Columbia President Is Replaced as #Trump Threatens University’s Funding

Katrina Armstrong is leaving the post a week after the university agreed to a list of demands from the White House.

#education #law #USpol #extortion #MafiaState #FreeSpeech #FreedomOfExpression #CivilRights #Constitution #ThoughtPolice
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/us/columbia-universitys-president-resigns.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=404E7892-C925-4B3E-8805-4DB6629DBFDD

OMG

#TimothySnyder left the country for #Canada

Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley, along with Yale history professors Marci Shore & her husband Timothy Snyder, are taking their teaching to the University of Toronto to advocate for #democracy, speak out against #fascism & teach without fear of #academic capitulation to the #Trump White House, they say.

#tyranny #authoritarianism #autocracy #ThoughtPolice #dissent #FreeSpeech #FreedomOfAssembly
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/28/us/yale-university-scholars-toronto-trump/index.html

In an amended petition for #HabeasCorpus, #RümeysaÖztürk's attorneys—now including the #ACLU—describe her arrest & detention as "part of a concerted & systemic effort by #Trump administration officials to #punish #students & others identified with pro-#Palestine activism."

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282503/gov.uscourts.mad.282503.12.0.pdf

The thought control that the Trump administration tries to impose makes the tendency exceed the authoritarian - it's totalitarian.

via G Elliott Morris’ Substack:

Avg of #Trump's approval rating compared to past #presidents.

Spoiler, it’s no bueno. The only worse presidency was his first term, & we’re just 2 months in.

https://gelliottmorris.substack.com/p/data

A Statement from #ConstitutionalLaw Scholars on the government's funding cutoff at #ColumbiaUniversity

— Eugene Volokh, Michael C. Dorf, David Cole, & 15 other scholars

The #USgovernment may not threaten #funding cuts as a tool to pressure recipients into suppressing #First #Amendment protected #speech.

#law #Constitution #CivilRights #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #FreedomOfAssembly #ThoughtPolice #ViewPointDiscrimination #dissent
https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/03/20/a-statement-from-constitutional-law-scholars-on-columbia/