Last week ICE seized Fulbright scholar Rümeysa Öztürk on the streets of Somerville for co-writing this oped. Last month, DHS agents seized Mahmoud Khalil, an organizer for Palestinian rights and a Columbia University graduate student. The Trump administration revoked visas for hundreds of foreign students studying in the US. UMass Amherst announced Trump is expelling five foreign students after his administration revoked their visas. Hundreds of men were forcibly taken from their families and friends and sent to a prison in El Salvador on the whims of people in ICE. Tens of thousands are in detention in private prisons on their way to who knows where.
Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil were seized because they exercised their 1st Amendment right to free speech. Trump’s expulsion of other students is attributed by federal authorities to alleged incidents, including minor, off-campus traffic violations. As Inside Higher Ed reported:
When international students have their entry visas revoked, they almost always retain their legal residency status in SEVIS, according to immigration lawyers. They can stay in the country as long as they remain enrolled in courses and must reapply for a new visa if they leave. Now, as the Trump administration revokes hundreds of student visas each week, federal immigration officials also seem to be terminating students’ SEVIS status—paving the way for arrest and deportation.
The CIA’s extraordinary rendition program from the 2000s is being renewed, expanded and directed at people fleeing persecution, looking to learn or just trying to feed and protect their family. Trump didn’t start it, but he is expanding it and making it even more cruel and vindictive.
No one should be expelled from the US based on accusations or for exercising their right to free speech, seeking a better life, or even minor fender benders. No one should be disappeared and ripped from their family and friends. The US has ample space for the thoughts, love and talents of all who which to come here.
Find ways to oppose these actions. The weekly Tesla Takedown protests are one we support. You can also checkout our list of actions to take.
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