Tag Archives: Columbia University

Newsweek: Harvard finds international student lifeline amid Trump visa showdown

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The Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS) has brokered a deal with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy to accept foreign students should the Trump administration succeed in blocking Harvard from enrolling them.

In remarks provided to Newsweek via email, HKS Dean Jeremy Weinstein thanked the Munk School—”and other partners”—for their help “to ensure that we can continue to provide all HKS students with the excellent education they deserve.

Harvard finds international student lifeline amid Trump visa showdown
The Harvard Kennedy School of Government has worked out a contingency plan for students should the Trump administration succeed in blocking enrollment.

https://www.newsweek.com/harvard-finds-international-student-lifeline-trump-visa-showdown-2091869

Mirror: Cyberattack hits major university with pictures of Donald Trump

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Columbia University has been dealing with “widespread outages” since 7 a.m. Tuesday, which has prevented students from accessing any online platforms.

The Columbia Spectator reports that several screens were taken over and displayed images deemed “unrelated to University activities.” At least one dorm television screen showed a picture of President Donald Trump.

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Police had no information as of 4:15 p.m. to update the community on the situation.

An investigation is still ongoing, though a University spokesperson told the Spectator that it was able to debunk posts circulating online from a group claiming responsibility for the cyberattack. It is not clear what post or group they were referring to at press time.

Suck it up, fellas! King Donald is Columbia’s new Deal Leader!

Cyberattack hits major university with pictures of Donald Trump
The University has been unable to access critical online platforms all day due to “widespread outages” in a suspected cyberattack.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/breaking-cyberattack-hits-major-university-1214335

Daily Mail: Tourist who claimed he was banned entry to US because of a JD Vance meme on his phone was actually denied for a different reason, Homeland reveal

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A Norwegian tourist who claimed he was denied entry to the United States after immigration officers found a meme of JD Vance on his phone was actually turned away for a different reason, U.S. officials have revealed.

Mads Mikkelsen, 21, was sent away after arriving at New Jersey‘s Newark Airport on June 11 for a holiday. 

He told Norwegian outlet Nordlys that he had been pulled aside by border control and put in a cell.

‘They asked questions about drug trafficking, terrorist plots and right-wing extremism totally without reason,’ he alleged in an interview with the outlet.

Mr Mikkelsen claimed that the officers then threatened him with a $5,000 fine or five years in prison if he refused to give the password to his mobile phone.

The guards were said to have found a meme on the device’s camera roll showing an edit of US vice president JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head. Mikkelsen said after discovering the image the authorities sent him home to Norway the same day.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, operating under the Department of Homeland Security, has since clarified that ‘Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons’.

Bullshit! Just another lie from Homeland Security!

Tourist ‘denied entry to US over meme’ was banned for different reason
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has since clarified that ‘Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons’.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14842359/Norwegian-tourist-21-barred-entering-US-ICE-guards-meme.html

NBC News: Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released after months in detention

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Minutes after the Columbia University activist was released, the Trump administration filed an appeal of his release.

Pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was released from detention Friday evening, ending more than three months of custody in a test of the executive branch’s power to unilaterally act against legal U.S. residents.

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Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin lashed out at “rogue” U.S. District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz, saying he had no authority to order Khalil’s release.

“This is yet another example of how out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining national security,” McLaughlin said. “Their conduct not only denies the result of the 2024 election, it also does great harm to our constitutional system by undermining public confidence in the courts.”

Government attorney Dhruman Sampat had argued that Congress has given the executive branch sweeping powers to determine who could be removed from the county.

The courts should not have the authority to interfere, Sampat said.

With regard to permanent residents, this presumed “authority” is total b*llsh*t!

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released after months in detention
Minutes after the Columbia University activist was released, the Trump administration filed an appeal of his release.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna214163

Slate: Trump Promises to Keep Terrorizing Blue Cities. It Might Come Back to Haunt Him.

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Donald Trump won the presidency in part on promises to deport immigrants who have criminal records and lack permanent legal status. But his earliest executive orders—trying to undo birthright citizenship, suspending critical refugee programs—made clear he wants to attack immigrants with permanent legal status too. In our series Who Gets to Be American This Week?, we’ll track the Trump administration’s attempts to exclude an ever-growing number of people from the American experiment.

President Donald Trump’s immigration raids have disrupted life in Los Angeles in a way the mayor is comparing to COVID; they’ve created a climate of fear that’s driving people into hiding and hurting local businesses. This week, the president promised to expand those raids in blue cities, all in a futile attempt to hit 1 million deportations by the end of the year. After suggesting last week that ICE would stop targeting the agriculture and hotel industries, which disproportionately rely on immigrant labor, the administration also walked back that guidance.

And a troubling trend is emerging: As Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts get more aggressive and reckless, several elected officials who attempted to conduct oversight or question what is being done have been arrested.

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“Overwhelmingly, Americans do not want ICE raids that focus on those without criminal records. That’s why polls show that Trump is losing voter approval on these key issues,” Mukherjee said.

Trump Promises to Keep Terrorizing Blue Cities. It Might Come Back to Haunt Him.
And Democrats keep getting arrested while trying to hold ICE accountable.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/06/donald-trump-brad-lander-ice-raid-los-angeles.html

Associated Press: US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

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The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review.

The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles.

… or which might otherwise annoy our pathetic thin-skinned Grifter-in-Chief.

Currently only about half of social-media users have public profiles, and even then they may choose to limit access on a post-by-post basis.

This will not work to our advantage in the long run.

US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

https://apnews.com/article/student-visas-trump-social-media-6632a2c585245edcd6a63594345dd8c7

Raw Story: Trump rebuked as judge bars re-arrest of another student activist

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A federal judge has once again handed President Donald Trump a loss in the administration’s efforts to deport international student activist Mohammed Hoque.

According to Politico legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein, Judge Jerry Blackwell of the District of Minnesota granted Hoque’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, preventing him from being re-detained.

Hoque, a Bangladeshi national studying at Minnesota State University-Mankato involved in pro-Palestine activism, was arrested earlier this year, allegedly over the revocation of his visa. Authorities reportedly followed him home from class and arrested him in front of his family.

Blackwell ordered his release last month after the federal government failed to prove it had a political reason for locking him up and terminating his Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVIS, status.

In issuing the habeas grant, Blackwell further slammed the Trump administration for targeting Hoque over First Amendment-protected political activity.

“The record separately establishes that Petitioner’s SEVIS termination violates DHS policies. The first is a policy against targeting protected speech,” wrote Blackwell. “The second is a policy that visa revocation does not justify SEVIS termination … Not only does agency policy preclude the practice, it contravenes federal law.”

Trump rebuked as judge bars re-arrest of another student activist
A federal judge has once again handed President Donald Trump a loss in the administration’s efforts to deport international student activist Mohammed Hoque.According to Politico legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein, Judge Jerry Blackwell of the District of Minnesota granted Hoque’s petition for a wr…

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-deportation-2672387306

Guardian: Australian deported from US says he was ‘targeted’ due to writing on pro-Palestine student protests

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Alistair Kitchen says he was detained and questioned about views on Israel and Palestine before being deported from LA to Melbourne

An Australian man who was detained upon arrival at Los Angeles airport and deported back to Melbourne says United States border officials told him it was due to his writing on pro-Palestine protests by university students.

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The 33-year-old said he was “clearly targeted for politically motivated reasons” and said officials spent more than 30 minutes questioning him about his views on Israel and Palestine including his “thoughts on Hamas”.

Kitchen said officials asked him for his “thoughts about the conflict in a very broad sense”, including about student protesters, what Israel “should have done differently” and “how I would resolve the conflict”.

“It was quite an in-depth probing of my views on the war,” he said.

Kitchen said he was deported and landed back in Melbourne on Saturday morning.

Australian deported from US says he was ‘targeted’ due to writing on pro-Palestine student protests
Alistair Kitchen says he was detained and questioned about views on Israel and Palestine before being deported from LA to Melbourne

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/15/australian-deported-from-us-says-he-was-targeted-due-to-writing-on-pro-palestine-student-protests

Axios: Judge denies Mahmoud Khalil’s release after Trump admin submits new filing

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A federal judge has declined to release Columbia University alumnus Mahmoud Khalil from federal detention after the Trump administration submitted a last-minute filing.

Why it matters: The administration’s tug-of-war with courts over Khalil represents a historic test for immigrants’ speech rights – namely, those of permanent residents – particularly where they concern pro-Palestinian speech.

Driving the news: The federal government on Friday said that continuing to detain Khalil does not violate the court’s Wednesday injunction, because Khalil’s detainment is now based on “other grounds,” such as being undocumented when he entered the U.S.

How many millions of our $$ will be wasted harassing this poor guy and his family?

Judge denies Mahmoud Khalil’s release after Trump admin submits new filing
The Trump admin argued that the judge’s injunction “does not interfere” with authority to detain Khalil on other grounds.

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/13/trump-admin-refuses-to-release-mahmoud-khalil-despite-judges-order

Alternet: Trump-capitulating law firms keep losing in a bad deal that is becoming worse by the day | Opinion

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Trump Loses Again

In a 52-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates—a 2001 appointee of President George W. Bush—rejected the Justice Department’s effort to defend Trump’s executive order targeting Jenner & Block. Trump’s own words doomed it:

Like the others in the series, this order—which takes aim at the global law firm Jenner & Block—makes no bones about why it chose its target: It picked Jenner because of the causes Jenner champions, the clients Jenner represents, and a lawyer Jenner once employed. (Jenner & Block v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al. Civil Action No. 25-916 (JDB) p. 1)

The court left no doubt that Trump had violated the Constitution:

Going after law firms in this way is doubly violative of the Constitution. Most obviously, retaliating against firms for the views embodied in their legal work—and thereby seeking to muzzle them going forward—violates the First Amendment’s central command that government may not “use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.” (Id.; citations omitted.)

Describing how Trump’s actions undermine democracy, Judge Bates previewed the fate awaiting similar orders:

This order, like the others, seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers. It thus violates the Constitution and the Court will enjoin its operation in full. (Id.; emphasis supplied.)

The firms that challenged Trump remain undefeated in the courtroom.

Trump-capitulating law firms keep losing in a bad deal that is becoming worse by the day | Opinion

https://www.alternet.org/trump-law-firms-2672221371