Secretary of State Marco Rubio is launching an AI-driven effort to revoke the visas of foreigners in the US who “appear pro-Hamas” in a crackdown targeting pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, Axios reported on Thursday.
The report said the effort will involve AI-assisted reviews of social media accounts of tens of thousands of foreign students in the US on visas that will look for “evidence of alleged terrorist sympathies expressed after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.”
The language in the report suggests that any foreign students who attend pro-Palestine demonstrations or express sympathy for Palestinians online could be swept up in the crackdown since opponents of the Israeli siege on Gaza or US military support for Israel are often labeled “pro-Hamas.”
Civil liberty groups have strongly criticized President Trump’s promises to deport foreign students who attend pro-Palestine protests since the speech of foreigners inside the US is supposed to be protected under the First Amendment.
“If we open the door to expelling foreign students who peacefully express ideas out of step with the current administration about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we should expect it to swing wider to encompass other viewpoints too,” Sarah McLaughlin, senior scholar at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), said in an op-ed for MSNBC in January.
“Today it may be alleged ‘Hamas sympathizers’ facing threats of deportation for their political expression. Who could it be in four years? In eight?” McLaughlin added.
Abed Ayoub, head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told Axios that Americans won’t like the State Department’s effort because they’ll view it as “capitulating free speech rights for a foreign nation.”
The new State Department project is part of a broader administration effort against protests that are critical of Israel, which includes threats from President Trump that universities that allow what he called “illegal protests” would lose federal funding. The Department of Justice also launched a new task force investigating alleged incidents of “antisemitism” on college campuses.
I was once an exchange student in the USA, today I'd be kicked out. No surprises here: residual democracy has been collapsing in the country since 2000 (election rigging against Al Gore, followed by 9-11 self-attacks), and very especially since 2016 or 17, when algorithmization of social media (mostly US-based), rigged primaries, Russiagate and what-not kicked in.
Internal enemies of the state must be eliminated by any means possible for national security.
One vey!…!….!
Can you use the "AI told me to" as the new version of "I was just following orders" defense?
“evidence of alleged terrorist sympathies expressed after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.”
What if foreign students express terrorist sympathies for Israel's war crimes against Gaza after October 7th? Will they be deported too?
BTW, we have already begun to see this policy implemented in our law practice. ICE last week came with 6 armed agents to detain a young man from Gaza seeking asylum. He was detained although he applied for asylum, and has no criminal charges.
They're of course claiming that they will deport him. However, that's impossible because no one is being deported to Gaza or the West Bank. He will be held for six months and it can be renewed indefinitely. Thus, the policy is to make examples out of these arrests for others, and to instill fear in our communities. However, our community has weathered 9/11 and the "war on terror" and four years of Trump 1.0.
In addition, our youth saw the generation of their parents seeking appeasement and access to the political establishment, only to be disregarded and disrespected. The only access Muslims had was to take photo ops at Ramadan iftars. The youth and their broad alliances are more savvy and will not take a conciliatory posture. This applies to both parties, Democrats and Republicans.
All sides must reach out to each other to obtain a true and lasting Peace!…
When the other side has no interest in a "true and lasting peace" some sort of destruction can be the only way
THe point of protesting is to cause a hubub
State Department To Use AI To Revoke Visas of Students Who ‘Appear Pro-Hamas’
This would encourage even more protests than before….! US Universities would become the bases for resistance, western way…!
Not if they use police thugs to stop all protests as they have done in the past. There are more protests in Europe against Israel now than here in the US.
They won't have the manpower specially now with current budget cuts…!
You know it's just PR nonsense when they start talking about using AI for it … buzzwords like that are meant to indicate "action" while your real attention is elsewhere.
You are wrong there. Most Tech gurus, CEO's AI billionaires moved over to Trump from the Democrats around July 2024.
They don't fool around. They will do as they are ordered for another trade off – none of it good for the average citizen.
We'll see … when AI starts labeling bubbas from Alabama as antisemitic due to nonsense posted online, the program may not last long …
AI is extremely useful. It’s a tool, at least currently. It wouldn’t be in charge, though could influence results by creating a bias.
This is extremely dystopian to anyone who actually values the freedom of speech and expression. It seems we are inching closer to a Philip K. Dick world.
There's certainly dicks in charge.
Kind of an insult to actual penises };-)>
You know what the end result of greater and greater AI is? It is for none-humans to control humans. Happened in Atlantis with terrible outcomes. We are on the crossroads again.
I mostly blame Mu and Lemuria for the downfall of Atlantean civilisation.
LOL!!!
That is disgustimng
"Lesser of Two Totalitarians" voting seems pragmatic, like genocide & global war will grant us peace of mind.
"foreigners to the US "who appear pro-Hamas."
Lemme guess – the AI criteria is based on this :
https://images.app.goo.gl/WDNsyH3NvATAkaLH7
Good one.
The big lie. Support for the Palestinians is Support of Hamas. 1982.
The State-Dept is too stupid to use AI. I expect they're still looking for the wall plug.
The Fourth Turning is happening before our eyes.
Trump supports the Zionist assault on free speech, press & assembly in America.
Putting the reputation of Israel ahead of Constitutional rights of Americans.
Israel First?
This is equivalent to academic terrorism…!
Well I'm a US citizen but if they are interested, I'll save them the time looking for me. Am right here, middle finger raised.
Fascists!!!
Bingo!
You win the Elon Musk doll!
Press it's belly button and it gives a Sieg Heil!
And a cute little giggle while it tells gaslighting Nazi denial jokes!
A real hoot at any MAGA Party!
What about students that are pro Izrael, Ukraine, Somalia, etc?
Discrimination?
Cracking down on protestors while letting convicted felons go free. The GOP in action.
Fair is fair " State Department To Use AI To Revoke Visas of Students Who ‘Appear Pro-Izrael’?
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize” by Kevin Alfred Strom