WEBVTT - How ICE Is Targeting Students for Deportation 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:05.000 Als media. 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:09.600 This is it could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. Today 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.080 I'm joined by James Stout. This episode is going to 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:17.439 be about ICE actions against students, scholars, and professors around 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:22.080 the country and this wave of deportations targeting people engaged 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:26.000 in pro Palestine speech protest, as well as some individuals 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:27.560 who have been roped up in this new wave of 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:33.680 deportations who have not publicly engaged in Palestine activism. Let's 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:38.600 start on the evening of Saturday, March eighth, Mahmoud Khalil 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.320 and his wife were returning home from dinner when plain 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.479 clothesed ICE agents followed the couple into their campus apartment 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.519 building at Columbia University. A man wearing a Marvel graphic 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.159 tea arrested Khalil for then unknown reasons and threatened to 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.160 arrest Khalil's wife, who is eight months pregnant and an 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:58.760 American citizen. When Khalil's wife brought his green card from 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.400 their apartment, says, one of the ICE agents placed a 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:05.200 phone call informing someone Khalil was a permanent resident, to 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.200 which the person on the phone replied, let's bring him 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:09.119 in any way. 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:11.119 You've got to be under arrest. 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.520 Turn around, around, turn around. 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:25.280 Okay, Okay, he's not resisting phone. Okay, you. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:33.400 Guys really don't need to be doing. 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:43.320 All of that. During the arrest, Khalil's lawyer, Amy Greer, 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.280 spoke in the phone with one of the ICE agents 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.000 who said that they were acting on State Department orders 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:52.080 to revoke Khalil's student visa. Greer reiterated to the agents 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.760 that Khalil was in fact a permanent resident with a 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.040 green card, but the ICE agent just responded by saying 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:03.040 they were revoking the green card instead. Khalil's a graduate 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.240 student who has been studying at Columbia for over two years. 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.480 Last year, Khalil emerged as a visible figure in the 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.160 college encampment protests, becoming a public spokesperson and a lead 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.960 negotiator on behalf of Columbia University apartheid divest. Though never 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:22.080 being arrested, Khalil faced harassment from right wing Zionist docsing 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:26.480 campaigns calling for his deportation, and when ICE did come 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.359 for Khalil, disappearing him to a detention facility in Louisiana 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.880 and cutting him off from communication with his wife and lawyer. 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:38.240 Throughout all of this, he was not charged with any crime. Instead, 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.239 Ice in the State Department are using a rarely used 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.840 Cold War era immigration statute that gives the Secretary of 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.960 State the power to exclude or deport any non citizen 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:51.400 of the United States if there are quote reasonable grounds 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.840 to believe that in individual's entry, proposed activities, presence, or 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.720 activities in the United States would have quote potentially serious 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.040 adverse foreign policy consequences. 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.760 Yeah, that was the one that like I remember at 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:07.960 the time, you and I were discussing this, like in 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:09.840 our group chat, and we were trying to work out 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.360 like how the Secretary of State could be revoking a 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.359 green card, like yeah, and I think you found this, 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:18.920 so you found it somewhere in it. The Trump administration 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:24.000 has been very very good at finding very obscure pieces 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.480 of law that it can wheeled against migrants. Right, Like, 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:31.440 no one in twenty sixteen would have foreseen what they 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.800 did with Title forty two, which is a public health law, 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.920 and they're doing something similar here. I mean, they may 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:39.160 have spent the last four years looking for these things, 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.480 es cecially when the campus protests began, but like, this 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.880 is entirely unprecedented as far as some were. 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:48.920 And right if this happened like we discussed how this 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.280 case was probably going to be used as a testing 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:56.360 ground for employing these tactics on a more widespread scale, 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.760 creating legal precedent, and sure enough, Khalil's case was not 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:04.080 an outlier. This was just the first public instance of 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:08.040 the Trump administrations directed targeting of students they believed to 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.400 be associated with protests against Israel and its actions in Gaza, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.920 and this wave of actions by ICE had actually already 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.799 begun before Khalil's arrest. The day before Khalil was arrested, 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.640 ICE agents knocked on the door of PhD student Rajani 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.480 Shrini Vassen, who a few days prior was suddenly notified 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.960 that her student visa had been revoked. When ICE agents knocked, 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.719 she did not answer the door. The next day, I 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.719 showed up again to her Columbia University apartment. Trinavassen was 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.520 not home, but upon hearing of Khalil's arrest just a 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.920 few hours later, she decided to quickly collect some belongings 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.159 and flee to Canada. Five days later, when ICE returned 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.120 to her residence, but this time with a warrant, Trinavassen 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:53.080 was already gone. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Nome praised this 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.160 as quote unquote self deportation. 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.680 Yeah, they talk about this a lot, Like self deportation 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:01.360 is definitely one of their goals. They talked about it 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:05.680 before Trump even came into power. Like that's what we're 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.479 seeing a lot of these spectacle raids and and like 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.520 spectacle deportations gear tactics. Yeah, yeah, exactly the desires that 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.800 people leave. Is she a Canadian citizen or like I. 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.839 Don't believe so, No, Okay, it was just the fastest 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.040 flight from LaGuardia out of the country, out of like, 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.080 you know, the closest, the closest she could be. 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:27.240 Yeah, I wonder what her immigration states is in Canada now. 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.800 She is currently figuring this whole situation out still, Okay, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.400 navigating her legal options both in Canada and the States. 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.240 Yeah, that'll be interesting too to see what Canada can 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.560 offer her. And like, I don't think the Trump administration 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.720 would go after like having her extradited back because if 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.040 she says she's not accused of a crime and then 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.560 they've kind of got what they wanted. It'll be interesting 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:47.360 to follow that. 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.400 There is no need for extradition because none of the 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:52.039 people that were talking about today were choosed of any crime. 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.680 Yeah, with the other cases of quote unquote like self deportation, 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.000 one of the issues is people have had their passport 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.880 seized and held, like like lots of Venice vigrants, so 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.440 they actually can't or it would be very difficult for 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.160 them to like just get on a fly and leave. 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:07.840 Which I think is in part why she made the 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:09.640 decision to get out when she could. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:10.120 Right. 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:14.160 DHS claimed in a statement that Trina Vasan advocated violence 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:18.920 and was quote involved in activities supporting hamas a terrorist 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:23.400 organization unquote. ICE is targeting her seemingly stems from being 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.880 mass arrested while trying to return to her apartment from 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.720 a picnic with friends on the same day as the 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.880 Hamilton Hill occupation. She couldn't get home and was caught 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.239 up in the crowd and was arrested among one hundred 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:40.120 other people. She received two summons for obstructing traffic and 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:44.240 failure to disperse, but her case was quickly dismissed. Homeland 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.919 Security claims that failing to declare these two summons is 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:54.039 what caused her visa to be revoked. Okay, interesting, that 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.640 same week ICE went after another Green card holder at Columbia, 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.719 a twenty one year old student named Yung Sam How. Chung, 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.600 a permanent resident who immigrated to the United States from 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.039 South Korea with her family when she was seven. On 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.120 March ninth, ICE agents visited her parents' home looking for Chung, 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:13.200 and that day she received an odd text message, reading, Hi, Yunsau, 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.400 This is Audrey from the police. My job is to 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.120 reach out to you and see if you have any 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.000 questions about your recent arrest and the process going forward. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.200 When are you available for a phone call unquote. This 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.920 recent arrest was allegedly in reference to being detained, among 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.840 others at a sit in protest at Bernard College on 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:36.760 March fifth. Chung was charged and then released with misdemeanor obstruction. 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.600 After receiving that sketchy text message, Chung got an email 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.520 from Columbia Public Safety reading quote, the US Attorney's Office 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:46.560 for the Southern District of New York has asked us 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:50.040 to inform you that Homeland Security Investigation agents are seeking 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.640 to make contact with you in connection with an administrative 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.640 warrant for your arrest. Consistent with universities practice, we wanted 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.320 to share this information and their request with you. If 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.600 you are represented by counsel, it may make sense for 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.960 your lawyer to speak directly with DHS unquote. Chung's lawyer 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.960 decided to call quote unquote to Audrey from the police, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.480 who revealed that she was actually an HSI agent and 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.640 that the State Department was revoking Miss Chung's residency status. Now, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.960 rather than opting for self deportation or turning herself into 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.760 immigration authorities, Chung decided to go into hiding and fight 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:28.320 the deportation in the courts while trying to evade ised attention. 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.280 When Ice failed to locate her, they enlisted the help 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:34.560 of federal prosecutors. To quote from the New York Times quote, 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.200 on March tenth, Perry Carboni, a high ranking lawyer in 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.920 the Federal Prosecutor's office, told Miss Amaud, miss Chung's attorney, 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.760 that the Secretary of State, mister Rubio, had revoked Miss 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.400 Chung's visa. Miss amd responded that Miss Chung was not 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.240 in the country on a visa and was a permanent resident, 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.120 according to the lawsuit. Mister Carboni responded that mister Rubio 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:59.360 had quote revoked that as well, unquote. Yeah, so this 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.680 is the exact same language we saw with Khalil, and 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.720 it displays a general uncaring towards who they are actually 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:08.400 targeting and what their actual legal status is in the 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.040 United States. They think they're going after people's student visas, 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:12.880 but when it turns out they have green cards, that 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.559 doesn't stop them. They still continue to do it anyway. 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.800 On March thirteenth, Ice searched two residences on campus with warrants, 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.720 citing a statute for harboring non citizens, but Chung was 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.240 nowhere to be found. Like Khalil, the Trump administration is 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.120 arguing that her presence of the United States hinders the 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:36.200 administration's foreign policy agenda. But her lawyers note that Chung 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.960 was not, by any means a quote unquote movement leader. 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.680 She was simply one of hundreds of students who joined 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.559 in nationwide protests against Israel's actions in Gaza. Her lawyer's 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.200 right quote, Miss Chung has not made public statements to 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.920 the press or otherwise assumed a high profile role in 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:54.200 these protests. She was rather one of a large group 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:58.559 of college students raising, expressing, and discussing shared concerns unquote. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.760 I had previously faced university disciplinary process which found she 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.600 was not in violation of any university policy related to protests. 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:12.520 Last year, Chung's lawyers filed a lawsuit to prevent her deportation, 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.960 claiming that ICE's actions against Chung are illegal and unconstitutional. 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:20.800 This lawsuit reads, quote, Officials at the highest echelon's government 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.600 are attempting to use immigration enforcement as a bludgeon to 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:28.560 suppress speech that they dislike, including Miss Chung's speech. ICE's 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:31.640 shocking actions against Miss Chung form part of a larger 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:36.160 pattern of attempted US government repression of constitutionally protected protest 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:41.960 activity and other forms of speech unquote. On March twenty fifth, 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:46.160 a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order halting efforts 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:50.240 from ICE to detain or relocate Chung. The judge said 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:53.680 that the government produced quote nothing in the record to 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.240 indicate Chung is a danger to the community or a 0:10:56.320 --> 0:11:00.280 quote unquote foreign policy risk, or that she was in 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:04.640 any communication with terrorist organizations. The judge said that there 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:09.200 would be quote no trip to Louisiana here unquote. This 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:13.080 is in reference to the big iceed attention facility in Louisiana. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:26.640 We'll be right back after this ad break, Okay. We're 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:31.800 back now. Although Chung has at least temporarily halted ICE's 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:37.520 efforts to detain or deporter, not all legal recourses have 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.640 proven successful. This week, a US district judge declined a 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:46.160 request to block the deportation of Cornell's student Mamadou Tall 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.760 after the State Department revoked his visa on March thirty first, 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.640 Tall released a statement, quote, given what we have seen 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.080 across the United States, I have lost faith that a 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.560 favorable ruling from the courts would guarantee my personal safety 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:03.040 and ability to express my beliefs. I've lost faith I 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:06.760 could walk the streets without being abducted. Weighing these options, 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.680 I took the decision to leave on my own terms. 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:11.600 Yeah, it's pretty bleak. 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:16.520 So Tall has elected for the quote unquote self deportation option, 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.320 at least for now. I believe his case is going 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.480 to continue, but he is not going to remain in 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:22.640 the United States. 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.280 Yeah. I think he returned to the UK, right. 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.920 I believe so. Yeah, he's a British citizen now. Interestingly, 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.280 last September, Cornell University itself tried to revoke Tall's student 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:37.680 visa for involvement in student protests but he successfully appealed 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.479 and was able to continue his African studies PhD remotely. 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:43.720 Yeah. I spoke to him a little bit back then, 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.440 just FIA direct message, But I think at that time, 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.040 whatever his agreement was, it seems like there was a 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:51.120 component of it that at least he didn't want to 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.480 talk about it in public, which is fine. Everyone has 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.160 the right to do that, and he should do it 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.520 was best for himself. But maybe I'll try and follow 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.520 up with him again now see if he wants to speak, 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.920 because he seems to have like he's been of all 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:05.480 of these people at the one who's been able to 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.720 make the most statements and then control his narrative to 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.200 some degree. Yeah. 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.680 No, he entered this period of like radio silence after 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.319 he won his appeal last fall, and then only started 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.640 speaking publicly again once he began getting targeted by the 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:21.480 Trump administration. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.120 Yeah, like the past month and a half. I think 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.679 he proactively filed that suit right like before. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:26.920 Yes. 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:31.400 Yeah, Now, the scale that Mark Rubio and I start 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.560 seeking for in regards to deep ortations is seemingly going 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:39.679 to be increasingly large. On March twenty seventh, Secretary of 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.240 State Mark Rubio claimed that he has revoked over three 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:46.520 hundred student visas so far, saying at a press conference, quote, 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.520 we do it every day. Every time I find one 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:53.120 of these lunatics, I take away their visas unquote. 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:54.240 Now there are a. 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.320 Few ways the government is currently trying to find these 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.640 quote unquote lunatics. I used to seem to be targeting 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:04.400 non citizens who have been arrested or detained at Palestine protests, 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.520 even if their charges were subsequently dropped. This is the 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.440 case for Chung and Shriny Vawsen, as well as former 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.360 student Leca Cordia, a Palestinian who was arrested at Columbia 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.960 campus protests in April of twenty twenty four She's currently 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.920 being held in an ice attention facility in Texas. Now 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.880 beyond arrest records, the government is utilizing the World Wide 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.760 Web and social media to identify new and returning visa 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:35.400 applicants and possibly current visa holders that quote support terrorist 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:39.920 organizations unquote. Social media screening of immigrants and visa holders 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:43.720 has been slowly ramping up since twenty fourteen and accelerated 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.360 during Trump's first term, but a new directive from Secretary 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:51.240 of State Mark Rubio titled enhanced screening and social media 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.640 vetting for visa applicants was sent out on March twenty 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.520 fifth and leaked by journalist Ken Klippenstein. The directive cites 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.920 two executive orders from Trump measures to combat anti Semitism 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.480 end quote protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:09.880 other national security and public safety threats. The State Department 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.960 is now requiring consular officers to conduct a quote unquote 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:19.440 mandatory social media review with screenshotting for students and student 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.200 exchange visitors with the intent of looking for evidence of 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.440 quote advocating for, sympathizing with, or persuading others to endorse 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.600 or espouse terrorist activities or support a designated foreign terrorist 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:35.640 organization quote. Now this applies to FM and J visas, 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:40.760 so student exchange visas, academic visas, and vocational visas. The 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.640 directive also instructs officers to search social media for quote 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.160 conduct that bears a hostile attitude towards US citizens or 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:56.760 US culture, including government institutions or founding principles unquote, which 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:59.640 is kind of the most incredibly broad thing I've ever 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:00.360 s scene. 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.240 Yeah, I mean, that's leaving it at the create discretion 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.240 of the officer, right, there's. 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.600 Already been an instance of a US customers agent's denying 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:12.640 entry to someone who had quote unquote anti Trump sentiments 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.880 found on their phone. Now, though this new directive is 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:20.640 focused on denying or revoking student visas, the Department of 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:24.200 Homeland Security is seeking to expand its social media data 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:29.240 collection to US citizenship, green card, and asylum applicants, basically 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.720 anyone and everyone in the US immigration system, no matter 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.160 their current status or what previous vetting they might have 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:36.080 already gone through. 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:36.720 Yeah. 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.720 On March fifth, DHS issued a sixty day notice for 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.080 public comment on a proposal for quote uniform of vetting 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:48.000 standards and national security screening unquote that includes the collection 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.080 of social media information for all non citizens applying for 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:55.240 immigration benefits like citizenship or permanent residency. A statement from 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.400 the US Citizenship and Immigration Service reads, quote, these efforts 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.200 ensure that those seeking immigration benefits to live and work 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.600 in the United States do not threaten public safety, undermine 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:11.640 national security, or promote harmful anti American ideologies unquote. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.200 Yeah, Like the anti American ideologies again is just fastly broad. 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:18.600 Right, It's like crazy red scare level stuff. 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:22.639 Yeah, and I'm guessing this will be either like a 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.080 literal control f of whatever they can find of your 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:28.960 public social media or aif that's some kind of AI assistant. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:30.600 That's what it seems to be, right, Like. 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.800 Former immigration agents have suggested that they're probably going to 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.280 use some AI system for this, as they've already kind 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:38.879 of used more primitive versions, but ramping up to this 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.720 scale and with like this increased focus and like attention 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.679 on quote unquote AI is going to affect the way 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:48.520 that they do this betting process. Absolutely, yeah, great. So 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.080 though the government is trying to increase their social media 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.800 screening so far, they actually haven't had to do that 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.480 much of their own research to identify targets for removal. 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:04.560 On March seventeenth, a Georgetown scholar named Bdar Khan Suri 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.320 was arrested by Homeland Security outside his home in Virginia, 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.240 where he lives with his wife, who's a US citizen, 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:14.399 and their three kids. According to Surrey's lawyer, masked agents 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.480 quote refused to tell him the basis for the arrest, 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:23.160 handcuffed him, and forced him into an unmarked black SUV. Later, 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.040 his wife was informed that her husband's visa was revoked 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:29.640 based on social media posts. And that Surrey was sent 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:34.560 to ice attention in Louisiana. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Trisha 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:39.520 McLoughlin posted on x that Surrey was quote actively spreading 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:43.879 Hamas propaganda and promoting anti Semitism on social media. The 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:47.239 Secretary of State issued a determination that Surrey's activities and 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:53.040 presents in the United States rendered him deportable unquote. Of course, 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:56.720 any single post in support of Palestine is going to 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:01.399 be seen as quote unquote promoting antisemitism. According to Mark Rubio, 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.280 Surrey's lawyer wrote in a court filing, quote, doctor Surrey 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.440 is an academic, not an activist, but he spoke out 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.320 on social media about his views on the Israel Gazo war. 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.600 Even more so, his wife is an outspoken critic of 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.600 the Israeli government and the violence it has perpetuated against 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:22.680 Palestinians unquote. Yet see that he was identified through his wife, right, correct, 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:23.840 and we'll get to that. 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:24.280 Okay. 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:27.160 Surrey has no criminal record, and according to a colleague, 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:31.080 he did not attend campus protests. However, Surrey's lawyer writes 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.120 that his family have been victims of a docsing campaign, 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.000 with his wife stating that a website had quote claimed 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.720 falsely that my husband and I have quote ties to 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:44.160 Hamas unquote. The Homeland Security Assistant Secretary references that claim 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.760 in a public statement on Twitter. And this harassment stems 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.800 in part from Surrey's father in law being a maud Yusef, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.679 a former advisor to Hamas. A federal judge blocked Suri's 0:19:55.680 --> 0:20:00.359 deportation as immigration court proceedings continue. But he's still means 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:01.240 in iced attention. 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:03.439 What kind of visa was he on? 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.960 He's not a green card holder. He received his visa 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:11.240 to continue doctoral research on peace building in Iraq and Afghanistan. 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:15.399 It's some kind of like academic or exchange visa. I 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.160 don't think we know the exact type that he has. 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.240 Okay, yeah, that would be like it would be interesting 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.119 to know if like, are they searching just through F 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:27.040 one visa databases or are they said I mean obviously 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.080 not if they're finding these green card people, but. 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.879 Like, well, I think specifically in this case, they're searching 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.760 social media. They're not searching through their own databases. They 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.240 don't care what kind of visa he has. They're looking 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:40.800 at this docksing campaign that's been targeted at him and 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.639 his family for like over a year and using that 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.000 as the basis to deport him. 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.399 Right, and then being like, can we deport he's not 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:50.000 a citizen? 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:52.480 So yes, basically even though his wife is a citizen. 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.480 Yeah, it's children publy therefore also citizens. 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:59.160 His wife who's whose father is a mod yusef they 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:01.120 can't deport her because she's a citizen or at least 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:03.000 they can't abort her right now. Who knows if they'll 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.679 try to denaturalize in the future. Yeah, but this is 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:08.320 the easiest person to target. 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:12.600 Yeah, And I think that's kind of what they're going for. Like, 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:16.960 a lot of this is it's like the politics of 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.160 owning the Libs, Right, It's like the politics of being 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:23.399 angry at your niece and nephew on Facebook and wanting 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:24.320 to humiliate them. 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:24.479 Like. 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:29.080 It's not a particularly lately coherent policy other than like 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:31.159 the Palestine protests made a lot of people on the 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.160 right mad and they don't like migrants, and that now 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:39.760 they're using this obscure legal provision as a cudgel against 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:40.840 everything they dislike. 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:44.560 Yeah, and using social media to identify people who have 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:47.840 never been arrested, never been charged with anything. Yeah, we're 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:51.359 going to finish our discussion on these docing campaigns and 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:53.480 ICE action starking students after. 0:21:53.359 --> 0:22:06.280 This ad break. All right, we're back, So right. 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:09.600 Now, the two main vectors for iceed attention whether you 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:11.960 have a green card or a visa, seems to be 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:17.439 previous arrests or these mass doxing campaigns. Now, someone like 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.919 Mahmoud Khalil was never arrested or charged with the crime, 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.560 but instead has been the target of harassment from both 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:27.639 a local campus doxing account run by Columbia professors and 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:32.120 fellow students, as well as larger right wing Zionist organizations 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:36.119 like Canary Mission. A few days before being arrested by ICE, 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:39.360 Canary Mission posted a video naming Khalil as a quote 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:45.240 unquote siren mog suspected foreign national alert. So what is 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:48.520 Canary Mission? If you're lucky enough to be unaware? Since 0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:51.280 twenty fifteen, Canary Mission has been collecting and publishing a 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:55.280 personal information of people they accuse of promoting quote hatred 0:22:55.359 --> 0:22:58.760 of the United States, Israel, and Jews on a North 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:04.040 American college campus and beyond unquote. Now they have profiles 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:09.000 for a few legitimate American neo Nazis, but many profiles 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:12.440 only cite criticism of the Israeli government and its actions 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:16.360