Secretary of State Marco Rubio says hundreds of visas have been revoked in an effort to repress student activism. And, the Trump administration plans to cut 20,000 jobs from health agencies.
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In an effort to crack down on student activists who support Palestinians, the U.S. has revoked hundreds of visas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday at a press conference. He is delivering on President Trump’s promise to deport noncitizens whose activism he claims supports Hamas terrorism and is antisemitic. This week, over a thousand people outside of Boston took to the streets to call on the government to free Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk. Federal agents in plain clothes and face masks arrested her. The agents plan to deport her.
???? Ozturk published an op-ed last year in the student paper criticizing her school’s leaders for not condemning the war in Gaza as part of her pro-Palestinian activism, NPR’s Adrian Florido tells Up First. The Department of Homeland Security said that Ozturk «engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization.» Her lawyers say the allegations are baseless. Because Rubio revoked hundreds of these activists’ visas, they became immediately deportable.
The Trump administration announced yesterday that it is planning a major restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services, including cutting 20,000 employees. HHS includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medicare and Medicaid, the National Institutes of Health, and other smaller divisions. HHS states that the job cuts will save $1.8 billion.
???? NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin says her inbox was flooded with shocked responses to the news yesterday from Democratic lawmakers, nurses groups, public health groups and more.
