U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services now reviews migrants' antisemitic social media activity as grounds for rejecting immigration applications, with Homeland Security stating "the United States has no space for terrorist sympathizers from other countries." The department announced Wednesday this change "will instantly impact aliens seeking permanent residency, foreign students and individuals linked to educational institutions involved in antisemitic behavior."
Homeland Security to scan migrants' social media posts for ... (Source: www.foxnews.com)
"Starting today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will examine aliens' antisemitic social media content and physical harassment of Jewish people as reasons to deny immigration benefit requests," the announcement stated.
The agency further explained: "In line with President Trump's executive orders on Fighting Anti-Semitism, Additional Steps to Combat Anti-Semitism and Safeguarding the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, DHS will apply all relevant immigration laws fully to defend the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who back antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic beliefs and antisemitic terrorist groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah also known as 'the Houthis.'"
Homeland Security to scan migrants' social media posts for ... (Source: www.yahoo.com)
This action comes as the Trump administration works to address antisemitism, particularly at universities, which has increased since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
"The United States has no space for terrorist sympathizers from other countries, and we have no obligation to admit them or allow them to stay," said Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs.
"Secretary Noem has made it clear that anyone planning to come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to promote antisemitic violence and terrorism should reconsider. You are not welcome here," she added.
Campus ctivists call for 'mutual defense compact' against ... (Source: www.foxnews.com)
Under these new guidelines, Homeland Security stated USCIS will "view social media content showing an alien endorsing, expressing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary review when processing immigration benefit requests."
Obama takes brutal swipe at Donald Trump after he paused $2,300,000,000 in Harvard funding
Barack Obama's latest criticism of Donald Trump might be his harshest yet. The 44th president holds political views vastly different from the Republican leader, making his frequent criticisms of Trump's policies unsurprising. "I have profound disagreements with my immediate successor — who's now president again," Obama remarked during an address at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, earlier this month. "There are numerous policies we could discuss where I hold strong views," Obama added, expressing his belief that dedication to firm governmental principles has 'deteriorated'.
Following that speech, the education department has suspended $2.3 billion in federal funding to Harvard University after the prestigious institution declined a series of requirements outlined by the Trump administration. The government claims these demands, delivered to Harvard in a letter last week, aimed to combat antisemitism on campus - with modifications to recruitment, enrollment and instruction practices being proposed.
In essence, the academic institution would surrender significant authority to the government had it accepted Trump's requirements, which included points like ensuring the university will 'implement organizational adjustments to guarantee complete transparency and collaboration with all federal regulators' and pressing the school to 'promptly close all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives, under any name, and end all DEI-based policies'.
Harvard rejected the proposal on Monday (April 14), alleging the government is attempting to seize 'control' of the university and its broader community. "While some government demands target antisemitism, most represent direct governmental control of 'intellectual conditions' at Harvard," stated Harvard president Alan Garber.
The former president posted on Twitter: "Harvard has established a precedent for other higher-education institutions – declining an illegal and clumsy attempt to restrict academic liberty, while implementing specific measures to ensure all Harvard students can enjoy an environment of intellectual exploration, vigorous discussion and mutual consideration. Let's hope other institutions do the same."
In response to Harvard's refusal, the Department of Education stated: "Harvard's announcement today highlights the concerning entitlement mentality prevalent in our nation's most elite universities and colleges."
Elsewhere in the letter, the Trump administration requested changes to 'merit-based' admissions and hiring practices, plus a prohibition on face coverings, apparently targeting pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus.
Obama takes brutal swipe at Donald Trump after he paused ... (Source: www.unilad.com)
Harvard has announced it is implementing actions to address antisemitism across its campus, but maintained this goal cannot be accomplished through "displays of authority, disconnected from legal frameworks, to dominate teaching and learning at Harvard and to prescribe our operations."
Trump administration makes major change in plan to ban foreign nationals traveling to the US from 43 countries
Visitors planning to holiday in America from 22 of the 43 countries whose citizens might face challenges at US passport control have received important news. The State Department has provided an update about plans to restrict foreign nationals from entering the US, after failing to meet the deadline established in President Donald Trump's executive order signed when he returned to the White House on January 20.
Trump Administration Highlights: Judge Orders Halt on ... (Source: www.nytimes.com)
The order, called "Protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats," gave government workers up to 60 days to create a detailed report on nations whose citizens will need additional screening. The March 21 deadline passed without completion.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated on March 31 that staff continue working to finish the report. "I can tell you that we're working on what the executive order asked for, which is not travel bans of course but the nature of restrictions from other countries if – whether or not they meet the standard of security and vetting that's required for entry into the United States," she told reporters.
Bruce explained the report has no set completion date, saying: "Again, because there's not a date, it doesn't mean that it's not being worked on. So we are all working to implement what President Trump has ordered."
Trump's suggested wide-ranging restrictions against citizens of 43 countries uses a traffic light system - complete travel prohibition, severely limited Visas, and countries given 60 days to address concerns... though the latter group now has an unlimited timeframe to respond to the State Department.
Trump's New Immigration Ban: An Arbitrary, Discriminatory ... (Source: www.cato.org)
The 22 nations on the list were instructed to follow requests to supply the US with details about travelers planning to visit the country, plus information about those already present.
All travel banned
Afghanistan
Bhutan
Cuba
Iran
Libya
North Korea
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Venezuela
Yemen
Visas sharply restricted
Belarus
Eritrea
Haiti
Laos
Myanmar
Pakistan
Russia
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Turkmenistan
Countries that have 60 days to address concerns
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Chad
Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Dominica
Equatorial Guinea
Gambia
Liberia
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
São Tomé and Príncipe
Vanuatu
Zimbabwe
Campus activists push for anti Trump 'mutual defense compact' of major universities
Several universities, many receiving substantial federal funds, might soon oppose President Trump's executive directives limiting progressive programs in public education, following campus activists' urging. Members on a Rutgers University advisory panel recently approved a resolution creating a "Mutual Defense Compact" to combine legal and policy assets among Big Ten Academic Alliance institutions against Trump administration directives.
The resolution asks Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway to lead this effort and "take a primary role in organizing a meeting of Big Ten academic and legal leaders to begin implementing this Compact."
A professor who talked with Fox News Digital joked that "the left has found free speech."
"These same individuals would punish university community members for using incorrect pronouns or alleged microaggressions," Dr. Kevin Jon Williams, a cardiovascular sciences professor at Temple University, told Fox News Digital.
"They prohibited conservative speakers and used force to prevent conservative speakers from visiting campuses, they canceled admission offers to accepted students because someone discovered something they did perhaps when they were 11 or 12 years old," Williams stated. "They were completely harsh and completely opposed to any kind of freedom of expression."
Williams received the measure – officially called the Resolution to Establish a Mutual Defense Compact for the Universities of the Big Ten Academic Alliance in Defense of Academic Freedom, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise – before the Rutgers University Senate passed it.
The resolution declares that "recent and growing politically motivated actions by government bodies threaten key principles of American higher education, including university governance autonomy, scientific research integrity, and free speech protection," and therefore, the "Trump administration and allied political figures have indicated readiness to target specific institutions with legal, financial, and political interference meant to undermine their public mission, silence opposing voices, and/or exercise improper control over academic study."
The Big Ten Academic Alliance, consisting of more than twelve universities from the Big Ten Conference, including both public and private schools, created the defense-compact resolution. The alliance, previously named the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, was formed to promote research collaboration and resource sharing.
"I don't think they're hypocrites, I think they're liars," Williams concluded.
Williams argues, "I think they're concealing themselves behind free speech principles, which they don't actually support, to maintain their grip on university environments. It's just a tactic. It's a method, and we shouldn't believe them when they claim to value free speech, because they've shown they clearly oppose it."
Campus ctivists call for 'mutual defense compact' against ... (Source: www.foxnews.com)
The plan suggests participating schools would add money to a joint defense fund to offer quick help against what they see as legal and political violations. Which Big Ten universities might back this resolution remains unknown.
The resolution will also "be sent to all Big Ten university leaders and their respective governing boards and shared governance groups," while Rutgers University's president "will take a key role in organizing a meeting of Big Ten academic and legal leaders to start implementing this Compact."
"This document shows remarkable political bias," said Williams, who also serves as a fellow for the conservative Do No Harm medical advocacy organization. "It broadly condemns the Trump administration. They certainly have the free speech right to do this, but by doing so, they stop being neutral, and I would question their tax-exempt status."
Many Big Ten schools have traditionally gotten federal research grants from organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
The resolution appears as the Trump administration closely examines universities receiving federal money. In March, the administration canceled $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, citing antisemitism concerns on campus after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. This action was part of a larger review of prestigious universities for alleged civil rights violations, especially toward Jewish students.
The administration has also focused on removing university diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to match Trump's executive orders while prohibiting biological males from competing in women's sports.
The Department of Education launched investigations into more than 50 colleges for alleged racial discrimination, challenging race-based admissions and scholarships in February.
Campus ctivists call for 'mutual defense compact' against ... (Source: www.foxnews.com)
Trump also signed an executive order greatly reducing the Department of Education's size in March. While the department now operates on a smaller scale, it still manages essential functions including Title I funding, Pell grants, student loans and special education funding.
