Latest news with #pro-Palestinian
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
US government makes new Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media account requirement must for these US visas
The US State Department announced that it will resume processing student visa applications after a month-long suspension, but with a significant new requirement: all applicants must make their social media accounts public for government review. International students applying for F, M, and J visas must now change their privacy settings to allow consular officers to examine their "entire online presence" for signs of hostility toward America, its citizens, culture, or government institutions. Those who refuse to comply may face visa denial, officials warned. The policy affects over 400,000 annual student visa applicants and comes as part of the Trump administration's broader crackdown on universities and international education. What students must do now by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Visa applicants must set all social media profiles to public viewing and cannot limit access during the screening process. Consular officers will search for content indicating "hostile attitudes" toward the United States, support for designated terrorist organizations, or engagement in antisemitic harassment or violence. The State Department warned that "limited access to, or visibility of, online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity." Officers are instructed to take detailed notes and screenshots for additional review. The screening extends beyond social media to include searches of online databases like LexisNexis, creating comprehensive digital profiles of applicants. Processing delays expected Embassies have been instructed to prioritize students attending colleges where international students comprise less than 15% of enrollment. The enhanced vetting process may strain consular resources, potentially leading to fewer scheduled appointments and longer wait times. Universities face funding pressures The visa changes coincide with the administration's targeting of elite universities over pro-Palestinian campus protests. Harvard University has had $2.65 billion in federal grants frozen, while Trump has attempted to cap international enrollment at prestigious institutions to 15% of their student bodies. Currently, about 200 U.S. universities exceed this threshold, including all eight Ivy League schools. International students contribute over $40 billion annually to the American economy.
Japan Today
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
The world may be rethinking the American dream
By LAURIE KELLMAN A staff member walks past a message to students that hangs on the wall at Place Bridge Academy in Denver on May 25. For centuries, people in other countries saw the United States as place of welcome and opportunity. Now, President Donald Trump's drive for mass deportations of migrants is riling the streets of Los Angeles, college campuses, even churches — and fueling a global rethinking about the virtues and promise of coming to America. 'The message coming from Washington is that you are not welcome in the United States,' said Edwin van Rest, CEO of Studyportals, which tracks real-time searches by international students considering studying in other countries. Student interest in studying in America has dropped to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, it found. 'The fact is, there are great opportunities elsewhere.' There has long been a romanticized notion about immigration and America. The reality has always been different, with race and ethnicity playing undeniable roles in the tension over who can be an American. The U.S. still beckons to the "huddled masses' from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The strong economy has helped draw millions more every year, with the inflow driving the U.S. population over 340 million. Early clues across industries — like tourism, trade, entertainment and education — suggest the American dream is fading for foreigners who have historically flooded to the U.S. Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the U.S. have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed. Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump's dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the U.S., even as tourists, leery. Trump's global tariff war and his campaign against international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies stick especially stubbornly in the minds of people across American borders who for decades clamored to participate in the land of free speech and opportunity. 'The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,' Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country and July 4 fireworks. 'Basically it's like the Dirty Harry quote: 'Do you feel lucky?'" For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth. But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans. The American Civil War ignited in part over the same subject. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a decade. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 concentration camps. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the 'American Creed' developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work and freedom are inherently American. Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump's grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century. There's a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled. After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained U.S. citizenship and tried return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and wrote about the experience. 'Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,' Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper's magazine. 'What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.' Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what's now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia. It's hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it. Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said in December. Almost 2.8 million more people immigrated to the United States last year than in 2023, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million-person increase in the most recent data reported. Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution. But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an 'invasion,' a longstanding view. Since returning to the White House, Trump has initiated an far-reaching campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him over his invocation of special powers to deport people, cancel visas and deposit deportees in third countries. In his second term, unlike his first, he's not retreating from some unpopular positions on immigration. Instead, the subject has emerged as Trump's strongest issue in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment. A June survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. The poll was conducted at the beginning of the Los Angeles protests and did not include questions about Trump's military deployment to the city. The U.S. is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world's top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it's unclear whether Trump's policies could cause a meaningful drain of international students and others who feel under siege in the United States. Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the U.S, collapsed by half between Jan. 5 and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the U.S. could plummet further, with U.S. programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. 'International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,' said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. 'The U.S. government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
RTÉ News
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Kneecap: 'We're getting upper hand on British Empire'
DJ Próvaí of Belfast rap trio Kneecap has thanked fans who turned out to support them ahead of bandmate Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's court case in London for an alleged terrorism offence. Speaking to RTÉ News ahead of their gig at Fairview Park in Dublin this evening, DJ Próvaí said that there was "great support there from a 1,000 people" and that fans had gathered because "they know we're going to win." Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who is known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged in a London court on Wednesday and has been granted unconditional bail until his next hearing on 20 August. DJ Próvaí, whose real name is JJ Ó Dochartaigh, said the band "dealt a good blow to the courts in Westminster," and added that "we have them on the back foot". Asked about the impact that the court case has had on the band, he said that there was "a bit of relief" and that their court appearance on Wednesday went well "because it seems like we're getting the upper hand on the British Empire." DJ Próvaí also addressed the high calibre of Kneecap's legal team, which includes some heavyweight names. "We have top class world class lawyers there including Gareth Pierce, Darragh Mackin, Blinne, all of them top class," he said. He also addressed the atmosphere outside the court yesterday in London, saying that there was even a stage outside but he said "he was not surprised at all" at the level of support with the crowd chanting messages of support for free speech and for a free Palestine. Looking forward to tonight's gig in Fairview, DJ Próvaí said that Kneecap were "buzzing for it" as they have not played in Ireland for a while so "it's brilliant to be back". "The crowd will be giving it stacks and we want it to be one of the special nights of the year." He added: "We haven't been in Dublin in a good while and there's nowhere better than Fairview to do it!" Standing outside of the venue, a large crowd holding a mixture of Irish and international flags gathered this evening, with some saying they were attending the gig because of Kneecap's commitment to the Irish language, and others citing their pro-Palestinian political views as the reason they like them.
CNBC
13 hours ago
- Politics
- CNBC
Trump administration puts new limits on Congress visits to immigration centers
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has put new restrictions on visits by members of Congress to immigration enforcement field offices after several episodes where Democratic lawmakers have been refused access or even arrested. The new guidelines, dated this month, also say Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS agency, has sole discretion over whether to deny or cancel a tour of an ICE detention center by a member of and representatives in Congress have oversight of agencies in the executive branch of government and control their funding. Under federal law, DHS is forbidden from preventing members of Congress from entering any facility "used to detain or otherwise house aliens," and lawmakers do not have to give DHS prior notice of a visit. DHS may require lawmakers' staff to give 24 hours' notice before those staffers can enter. The new guidelines say that law does not apply to ICE field offices, although immigrants are often detained at ICE field offices before a transfer to an ICE jail. ICE is now asking members of Congress to give at least 72 hours' notice before a visit. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, returned to the White House in January partly on a pledge to voters to deport millions of immigrants, including those in the U.S. without authorization and those seeking asylum. He also has sought to deport international students legally studying in the U.S. who have pro-Palestinian views. The guidelines note that members of Congress do not have to give notice before a visit to an ICE detention center, but now assert that ICE has "the sole and unreviewable discretion to deny a request or otherwise cancel, reschedule or terminate a tour or visit," for any reason. ICE will make "every effort to comply with the law and accommodate" lawmakers from Congress, the guidelines say. Some Democratic politicians, who oppose Trump's crackdown on immigrants, have found themselves in heated standoffs with ICE agents outside immigrant detention centers in several states. This month, the Trump administration said it is prosecuting U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, over a scuffle at the gate of an immigration detention center on May 9 as lawmakers sought to conduct an oversight visit. ICE agents have also arrested local Democratic politicians, including Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, at ICE facilities in recent weeks.
Toronto Star
16 hours ago
- Toronto Star
New York police search for a suspect and a motive after 11 police vehicles are torched
NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected of torching 11 New York City police vehicles in Brooklyn last week — the first of two such arson attacks in the last week — was previously arrested at pro-Palestinian protests and is wanted for damaging a statue at Columbia University last fall, police said. The NYPD on Wednesday released photos and a video of the suspect, a 21-year-old man from New Jersey, and asked the public for help finding him. He remained at large as of Thursday.
