Latest news with #ForeignService
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Foreign students who hate America don't deserve visas — and we have tools to stop them
Would you let absolutely anyone in your house, with no conditions? Of course not. If even an invited guest got rowdy, trashed your kitchen, took over your bathroom, insulted your religion, or invited their friends to set up tents on your lawn, you'd send them packing. By the same token, no nation should be forced to admit people who hate that country and its values. Visas are a privilege, not a right. Furthermore, foreigners visiting, studying, or working here have fewer rights and more limited "due process" than citizens – as they should. The rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship should be held to a much higher standard, not watered down and "given" to those with lesser immigration status or skin in the game. I was a U.S. Foreign Service officer from 1999-2022, and my first tour was to our Embassy in New Delhi, India. We officers on the "visa line" did around 150 interviews a day to determine whether Indian applicants were qualified to come to the U.S. We used a two-page paper form that had little information, which we checked against a criminal and terrorist records database that was not as comprehensive as today's. If the communications systems went down, we had to rely on CDs that were weeks old to check the names. All the September 11, 2001, hijackers were in the United States on non-immigrant visas; mostly tourist/visitor visas, although there was at least one holding a student visa. The world became a lot riskier, and the U.S. needed to adapt the way we admitted foreigners. The massive 9/11 Commission Report detailed inefficiencies and loopholes in the way U.S. intelligence and national security agencies worked with the Department of State to check the names, dates of birth and other personal information of applicants before issuing them visas. In response, the State Department added forms and took more information from each applicant, so we knew as much as possible about who wanted to come to our country and why. State also improved the way that information was shared and vetted by the rest of the U.S. government so that everything we collectively knew about any John Q. Foreigner was considered before we let him into the country. The change in process slowed things at first, but then we adapted and increased efficiency. The entire application process is now done online, where entered data is combined with a photo and fingerprints for each person. Today, everyone is online, particularly younger people. Every student applicant has a smartphone and most likely multiple social media accounts. What we post online reflects who we are. Anonymity is an illusion – one should not post things one is ashamed of or wants to hide. As any consular officer will tell you, some people lie in visa interviews. We have something they want: a visa to get into the United States. They might not lie to their mother or priest, but lying to a foreign official is a far lesser sin. Given that reality, and the wealth of information available online that truly reflects a person, consular officers would ideally be vetting all applicants' social media already. Until now, the constraints of staffing – having an individual human access and look through each applicant's many accounts and possibly thousands of posts – made that prohibitive except in cases deemed worthy of increased scrutiny. Consular units in U.S. embassies have fraud prevention units, but they are not staffed to handle every single case. Nor can every case be elevated for scrutiny by other U.S. agencies. The growing capacity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will make social media screening, and broader vetting, possible for more applicants. It makes sense to start with students, as they are in our country much longer than someone visiting Disneyland or attending a business meeting. Most students come to do a four-year bachelor's degree at least, and many remain to get jobs and become legal residents and, perhaps later, citizens. If done right, social media vetting will not slow down the visa process. It won't keep out most applicants who plan to come here for a specific, valid purpose, tell us the truth, and stick to their word. But people who post incendiary, criminal, violent, anti-American, antisemitic, or anti-capitalist content won't make good visitors, students or future Americans. When I see some of the posts by people here on student visas, or trying to become Americans, I wish a few of them had never received visas. Like Momodou Taal, who seemed to spend most of his time at Cornell University protesting, occupying buildings without permission, and going "hard for Gaza." At a protest in 2024, he said "we don't take our cue from some bullsh*t student assembly at Cornell. … We take our cue from the armed resistance in Palestine." Cornell refused to suspend him because they didn't want him deported. Today, everyone is online, particularly younger people. Every student applicant has a smartphone and most likely multiple social media accounts. What we post online reflects who we are. Anonymity is an illusion – one should not post things one is ashamed of or wants to hide. Given that our colleges are willing to champion those who hate the West, capitalism, and our allies, defending the national interest is up to those who issue visas. It's quite possible that a review of Taal's social media before they issued his visa would have revealed ineligibilities and saved us having to find a job for one more "Africana studies" PhD. Then there's Kishan Kumar Singh, Mahammadilham Vahora and Hajiali Vahora, and Vedantkumar Bhupenbhai Patel, all of whom were here on visas ostensibly to study when they were arrested in separate cases across the country for allegedly trying to scam elderly Americans out of their money. What might their social media have shown? Looking at Chinese students more carefully, in particular, might stop a future Shenghua Wen – the Chinese student who overstayed his 2012 student visa, dropped out of school, and apparently went into business shipping arms to North Korea. Chinese students being caught smuggling in suspicious items and engaged in research that could benefit the PRC and undermine the U.S. are happening with alarming frequency. The U.S. has over a million foreign students here already and issues almost half a million more such visas every year. Weeding out a few who are more intent on rioting, protesting, or doing nefarious research than getting a degree will encourage the rest to respect our country and our rules.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Secularism's Old Soldier
After reading A Maverick in Politics 1991-2024 (Juggernaut), my response was that this is a book written by a brilliant mind. These are not the memoirs of a maverick but a brilliant ideologue caught in a time capsule. It encapsulates the tragedy of the author's life and career as he so honestly acknowledges: 'What remains are the memories and fantasies of yesteryear. …..Coping with failure was more personal. …I just never thought the Gandhi family that had brought me into politics would bowl me out too. Do I regret having quit the Foreign Service midstream to take the plunge into politics? Not for one second. I took my decision consciously, never looking back, knowing that it might end in disaster, not triumph….No, I regret nothing'. Unlike most who are 'born' into politics and do not switch from civil service to a completely different milieu, Mani, as we affectionately call him, refused after moving to politics, to change with the times, or accept that India had changed. He liked his time capsule and unlike Dr. Who, of BBC fame [a British science fiction programme produced by the BBC], refused to emerge from it. The consequences were clear and revealing and frequently tragic.
CNA
09-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
US State Department cable says agency using AI to help staff job panels
WASHINGTON :The U.S. State Department will use an artificial intelligence chatbot to help it select the people who will perform annual reviews of promotions and moves, according to a cable issued Monday and reviewed by Reuters. The cable said that StateChat, an in-house chatbot which works using technology from Palantir and Microsoft, will be employed to pick foreign service officers for participation on the Foreign Service Selection Boards, the annual evaluation panels which decide whether and how to promote and shuffle around State Department employees. In a statement, a department spokesperson said the evaluations themselves "will not be done by AI." The boards, whose role is governed by the 1980 Foreign Service Act, play a critical role in the State Department's personnel promotion decisions, managing the annual process by which diplomats and others jump from one professional grade to the next. By statute, the boards are meant to include "a substantial number of women and members of minority groups." The State Department has been using StateChat since last year to transcribe notes, draft emails, and analyze diplomatic cables. Last week the agency's acting chief data and AI officer, Amy Ritualo, told a Palantir conference that StateChat had about 40,000 users across her agency. The program's role in the human resources process, however, has not previously been disclosed. Last month the State Department abruptly postponed the boards, and previously selected members received emails saying their services were no longer required. Monday's cable said that StateChat's technology would instead be used to "perform unbiased selection" for the boards based on employees' internally adjudicated skill codes and grades. That list would then be screened - for example for disciplinary and security issues - before being used to create the panels. There was no mention of female or minority representation. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly attacked what Republicans refer to as "DEI," a catch-all term covering work protecting civil rights, fighting discrimination, and boosting diversity. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees, did not directly comment on the use of AI but said it was seeking clarification from agency leadership about how it intends to comply with its legal obligations around women and minority group representation. Palantir and Microsoft didn't immediately return messages. Although the deployment of AI by officials precedes Trump's reelection in 2024, his administration has aggressively expanded its use since his return to power. Last month Reuters reported that tech tycoon Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service was expanding its use of the AI chatbot Grok across the U.S. federal government. In April, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials had told some U.S. government employees that DOGE was using AI to monitor at least one federal agency's communications for hostility to the president.
Reuters
09-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US State Department cable says agency using AI to help staff job panels
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department will use an artificial intelligence chatbot to help it select the people who will perform annual reviews of promotions and moves, according to a cable issued Monday and reviewed by Reuters. The cable said that StateChat, an in-house chatbot which works using technology from Palantir and Microsoft, will be employed to pick foreign service officers for participation on the Foreign Service Selection Boards, the annual evaluation panels which decide whether and how to promote and shuffle around State Department employees. In a statement, a department spokesperson said the evaluations themselves "will not be done by AI." The boards, whose role is governed by the 1980 Foreign Service Act, play a critical role in the State Department's personnel promotion decisions, managing the annual process by which diplomats and others jump from one professional grade to the next. By statute, the boards are meant to include "a substantial number of women and members of minority groups." The State Department has been using StateChat since last year to transcribe notes, draft emails, and analyze diplomatic cables. Last week the agency's acting chief data and AI officer, Amy Ritualo, told a Palantir conference, opens new tab that StateChat had about 40,000 users across her agency. The program's role in the human resources process, however, has not previously been disclosed. Last month the State Department abruptly postponed the boards, and previously selected members received emails saying their services were no longer required. Monday's cable said that StateChat's technology would instead be used to "perform unbiased selection" for the boards based on employees' internally adjudicated skill codes and grades. That list would then be screened - for example for disciplinary and security issues - before being used to create the panels. There was no mention of female or minority representation. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly attacked what Republicans refer to as "DEI," a catch-all term covering work protecting civil rights, fighting discrimination, and boosting diversity. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees, did not directly comment on the use of AI but said it was seeking clarification from agency leadership about how it intends to comply with its legal obligations around women and minority group representation. Palantir and Microsoft didn't immediately return messages. Although the deployment of AI by officials precedes Trump's reelection in 2024, his administration has aggressively expanded its use since his return to power. Last month Reuters reported that tech tycoon Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service was expanding its use of the AI chatbot Grok across the U.S. federal government. In April, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials had told some U.S. government employees that DOGE was using AI to monitor at least one federal agency's communications for hostility to the president.
Business Insider
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I grew my ex's limousine company from $200,000 to $33 million when I sold it. He stayed at home with our 4 kids while I was the CEO.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kristina Bouweiri, owner of Reston Limousine. It has been edited for length and clarity. I never planned on being in the limousine industry. I thought I'd follow in my father's footsteps and join the Foreign Service. I was born in Japan and spent 20 years living overseas because of his job. I studied international affairs in college, worked on women's empowerment projects in Somalia, and planned to make an impact in the nonprofit world. But when I returned to the US, the only job I could find was 100% commission sales. One of my cold calls was to a man named William Bouweiri, who owned a small limousine company in Northern Virginia. That call changed my life. We started dating, and four months later, he asked me to leave my job and join him in his business. I did, and within a year, we were married. Reston Limousine was a small operation when I came on board My husband focused on corporate clients — he had only five cars and made $200,000 in yearly revenue. But I saw potential elsewhere. I pushed for proms, weddings, and eventually government contracts. I cold-called brides from purchased lists, and within a year, we were doing 100 weddings every weekend. In the '90s, we were in the right place at the right time. We landed government shuttle contracts, and tech companies like AOL became clients. Revenue soared to $5 million. Eventually, we grew to 240 vehicles with contracts across the region. I struggled with infertility for five years. As hard as it was, it gave me time to work 16-hour days during those early startup years. When my twins were born, I had a business that could support maternity leave and a team to run operations. He stayed home with the kids while I ran the company After 9/11, everything stopped. Corporate travel froze, events were canceled, and contracts paused. One of the biggest blows came when our bank dropped us, saying our 50 buses in D.C. were a potential terrorist target. We'd never missed a payment, but we lost financing overnight. It took six months to find a new bank and five years to return to profitability. During that time, my husband and I decided he'd stay home with our four kids while I ran the business. That's when I fully stepped into the CEO role. We were tested again during the 2008 recession, and when the pandemic hit. That was the hardest. We laid off 300 of our 450 employees. I refunded $1 million in deposits with no revenue coming in, and I didn't know if we'd survive. The PPP loan saved us. During that downtime, I brought in consultants, eliminated redundancies, cut unnecessary software, and streamlined operations. Coming out of the pandemic, we were leaner, more profitable, and better prepared. Despite our growth, I still faced challenges as a woman in a male-dominated industry. I've walked into meetings where no one would look me in the eye or speak directly to me, even though I was the CEO. But it didn't faze me, I knew my worth. Over the years, I paid for three of my children to attend college and watched my son grow into an exceptional sales director at Reston Limousine. He even landed our Major League Soccer account, leading to a major transportation opportunity in 2024. I sold my company And after more than 30 years, I sold Reston Limousine this April for $32.9 million. I'll stay on for three years to support the transition, but I'm proud to say I paid off the loan I used to buy out my ex-husband and built one of the top limousine companies in the country. My biggest accomplishment isn't just the size of the company. It's that I had the courage to leave a marriage, buy the company on my own, and run it while raising four kids. I proved women can lead — and succeed — in any industry.
