Secretary of State Marco Rubio used an authority never used before in the history of the US to strip pro-Palestine student protesters of their visas.
In the "third-worlding" United States, it is fine to criticize the government of the US, but it is a crime to criticize Israel. Isn't this sufficient evidence that Zionists do indeed feed the cliché that they control the US government?
If you're a foreign student in the US on a student visa, you're supposed to shut up. You're no longer a free human being with the basic dignity of expressing your opinion. That is what the Trump government wants: To take away your personal freedom and rights. Those rights are not "granted" by any entity, neither the US constitution nor the UN Human Rights Charter. Your rights are inalienable: They come with you at birth. No one gives them to you, and therefore no one can take them away from you.
But that is what the Trump bootlicker Rubio is doing. He is arguing that once you come to the US as a student, you no longer have those rights, and you should shut up.
Rubio says that it is his authority to find someone deportable: Citing the Immigration and Nationality Act, Rubio argues that the foreign individual's presence or activities in the United States - such as the individual's freedom of conscience, speech and expression, or his nationality - could have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. Now, if it is up to Rubio's biased and arbitrary decision, and not the law's, to deem what is "adverse" in the conduct of the foreign student, then we are falling into a dictatorship that has no respect for human dignity and for the universal human rights enshrined in the US constitution, in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, and in the United Nations Human Rights Charter.
The Trump administration is accused by the courts of instituting a constitutionally illegal ideological deportation policy against pro-Palestinian protesters, including Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts University's Rumeysa Ozturk.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association. An action memo sent by government officials to the secretary of state proposing Rubio strip Khalil and Yunseo Chung of their visas was cleared by 10 people and departments within 24 hours before it was sent to Rubio. The White House, Department of Homeland Security, State Department and Department of Defense had over 20 conversations about student protester visa revocations, most of which took place in March.
John Armstrong, the senior bureau official in the bureau of consular affairs at the State Department, also testified that he had conversations with people on the Homeland Security Council over the visa revocations, naming the radical Zionist Nazi Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller and his deputy.
Brian Van Der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images - PHOTO: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a student- faculty rally at Dickson Plaza at an encampment on the UCLA campus, April 29, 2024, in Los Angeles.
In a two-page memo from earlier this year outlining why Khalil should be deported, Rubio cited Khalil's alleged role in "antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States."
Asked about how officials identify what constitutes antisemitism, Armstrong testified Friday that he can't remember receiving "any concrete guidance" as to what can be treated as antisemitic, and also testified that he doesn't know of any of his deputies having received formalized training on what antisemitism is. In other words, any biased official can decide on his own definition of antisemitism and accordingly take arbitrary measures.
Armstrong tried to defend himself against his own very brioad and ambiguous definition. "It's my understanding that 'antisemites will try to hide their views and say they are not against Jews, they are just against Israel -- but it's a dodge' to hide their antisemitism, Armstrong said. Imagine how far can Zionists and their poodles will go to impugn an otherwise innocent point of view. We have come to a point in these United States where it is OK to criticize and denounce the US, but it's not OK to crtiticize and denounce Israel.
Indeed, Armstrong also testified that criticizing Zionism, criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza, saying that the actions of the Israeli government are "worse than Hitler," saying "from the river to the sea," calling Israel an apartheid state and calling for an arms embargo could all be considered antisemitism and therefore grounds for deportation.
Armstrong, who personally authorized the decision to strip Ozturk of her visa, testified that he based the decision on her actions protesting Tufts' relationship with Israel and her "activities and association" with groups that are "creating a hostile environment for Jewish students." How does writing an Op-Ed critical of Israel in the Near East create a "hostile environment" for Jewish students at Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts?
Are all American Jews, indeed all Jews outside of Israel, are they all Israelis? Are they all Zionists? And even if we concede that that they are, how does criticizing the foreign and decidely violent and genocidal government of Israel in the US create a hostile environment for Jewish students who are not necessarily Israeli citizens or Zionist radicals but who oftentimes are themselves critical of Israel with whom they have at most a religious connection?
Should every Shiite Muslim around the world be offended and fear for their life when we criticize Iran? Should every Indian national or Hindu faithful on US soil feel threatened by a hostile environment if we criticize the policies of Narendra Modi and his government? How far can we take the absurdity of the "antisemitism" argument?
Do we create a "hostile environment" for Russian, Chinese, Arab or African students when we criticize Vladimir Putin, or the Chinese Communist Party, or Arab Gulf monarchies or African governments?
The Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk's visa was revoked under a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows the government to revoke a visa for any reason, Armstrong testified.
On Thursday, Andre Watson, the assistant director for the national security division at Homeland Security, testified that he has made 10 to 15 referrals of student protesters to the Department of State for possible visa revocation since the establishment of the Tiger Team task force looking into student protesters.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images - PHOTO: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march in solidarity with two Columbia University student groups which were recently banned from campus for their support of Palestine, Nov. 15, 2023, outside of the gates of Columbia University in New York.
He said he referred every individual on whom the Homeland Security Investigations task force has filed a report, including Khalil, Ozturk and Mahdawi.
After the conclusion of testimony on Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Young informed the parties of definitions he will be relying on while making a decision after the conclusion of the bench trial.
"Criticisms of the state of Israel are not antisemitism. They are political speech, protected speech," Young said.
Commentary on "conduct of the state of Israel, if it involves war crimes, involves genocide ... is protected speech with respect to our constitution," Young said.
While condemning antisemitism and saying the government should discourage antisemitism and hate against any group of people, he said, "Antisemitism ... is not illegal. It is protected under the First Amendment."
On the pivotal question of whether visa holders and lawful permanent residents have the same First Amendment rights as U.S. citizens, the judge said, "Probably they do."
Young also said criticizing the state of Israel "does not constitute pro-Hamas support."
After new evidence is entered on Monday, closing arguments will begin in the trial.
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