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This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to clarify the Trump administration’s “right” to rescind student visas and deport international students who are critical of Israel’s U.S.-backed war on Palestine. However, his bold assertions may have led to even more confusion around what immigration experts say are illegal new procedures. Rubio made the comments at a press conference Thursday in response to a question about the arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national who wrote an op-ed that offered a narrative critical of Israels siege. He said that at least 300 student visas have already been revoked, but said he hopes it’s even more. “If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio told reporters. Rubio continued, seeming to offer the perspective that the U.S. is within its rights to remove those who use their voices against the administration’s stance. “And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio asserted. Rubio’s language this week conjured up images of violent and destructive protests. And President Donald Trump has accused protesters and others whose visas it has terminated of being pro-Hamas, however evidence has only pointed to students speaking out against what the United Nations has called a “genocide.” Rumeysa Ozturk wasn’t even protesting, but was one of four authors on an op-ed urging divestment “from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.” The article made no mention of Hamas. In a jarring video of the student’s arrest, Ozturk is seen being cornered by ICE off-campus and taken into custody. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell called Ozturk’s arrest “disturbing” in a statement on social media. “Based on what we know now, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views.” Mahsa Khanbabai, attorney at Khanbabai Immigration Law, who is part of Ozturk’s legal team said, per the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called Ozturk’s treatment “shocking, cruel, and unconstitutional.” Khanbabai said, “For nearly 24 hours, we could not locate her, and despite a court order to prevent the government from taking her out of Massachusetts, we finally learned the Trump administration had shipped her to Louisiana. Criticizing U.S. foreign policy and human rights violations is neither illegal nor grounds for detention. The government must immediately release Rümeysa to continue her studies and rejoin her community.Ozturk is currently being held at a federal detention facility in Louisianathe same location where Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate student who was arrested on March 8 for organizing student protests, remains.
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E-Commerce
Meta wants to revive Facebooks old-school appeal by introducing a new Friends Tab, which will focus solely on posts shared by a user’s friends and family. This Friends Tab will replace the section in the app that previously displayed friend requests and suggested friends. Instead, users in the United States and Canada will now see a scrolling feed featuring photos, videos, friend requests, birthday reminders, and text posts. “Over the years, Facebook evolved to meet changing needs and created best-in-class experiences across Groups, Video, Marketplace and more, but the magic of friends has fallen away,” the company wrote in an unattributed blog post. “Well be adding several ‘OG’ Facebook experiences throughout the year, beginning with the revamped Friends tab.” Importantly, the new Friends Tab wont replace the Home feed, which still includes recommended content. However, Facebook may see this as a way to offer the best of both worlds. The company received significant backlash in 2022 after announcing plans to introduce recommended content from users who werent added as “friends.” Although Meta scaled back that content, users continued to see their feeds flooded with posts from creators and brands over time. This algorithm-driven approach has generally been seen as a strategy to boost engagement. Instead of checking in occasionally to stay connected with friends, many users turned to social media for endless scrolling. “Social media should feel social,” the company wrote. “In that spirit, well be adding more fun, simple experiences to help you connect and share on Facebook throughout the year.” Facebooks user base continues to skew older. A Pew Research Center survey from fall 2023 found that only a third of American teens ages 13 to 17 reported using Facebooka steep drop from the 71% who said they used it in a 20142015 survey. Its unclear how many young users will actually see the latest updates. Still, the move could appeal to users weary of algorithms and brand-driven content. Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said during a January analyst call that there are many opportunities to make the app more culturally influential than it is today.
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump moved Thursday to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law. The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security. Police and firefighters will continue to collectively bargain. Trump said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 gives him the authority to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies because of their role in safeguarding national security. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said late Thursday that it is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks. President Trumps latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants nearly one-third of whom are veterans simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement, Its clear that this order is punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administrations illegal actions in court and a blatant attempt to silence us. She also vowed, We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being. The announcement builds on previous moves by the Trump administration to erode collective bargaining rights in the government. Earlier this month, DHS said it was ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of frontline employees at the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA union called it an unprovoked attack and vowed to fight it. A White House fact sheet on Thursday’s announcement says that Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda and that Trump refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests. President Trump supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him; he will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions, the White House said. Darlene Superville, Associated Press
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