Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate who has been in immigration detention in Louisiana for more than a month, was barred from attending the birth of his firstborn child Monday, after immigration officials denied him permission to attend the birth in person, according to emails reviewed by CNN.
On Sunday morning, attorneys for Khalil wrote to Melissa Harper, director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in New Orleans, requesting that Khalil be released from detention for two weeks so he could travel to New York and be with his wife when she delivered their son.
Such an asshole move. What is ICE afraid of? That he might flee the country?
They’re afraid he might experience something human and in their view he isn’t so why give him the dignity?
They want to make an example out of Mahmoud. Oppose Israel and ICErael will make your life hell.
I don’t get it. Why do they even care about protesting on campus? It’s what students do, and is protected by the first amendment. The entire over reaction feels like a spite move but even so, who is that emotionally invested in it to feel spiteful? I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around the investment in this campaign. Rubio even spewed vitriolic rage on the topic. Again, it makes no sense.
The appropriate disagreement response, in Old America, would be: who cares? Maybe in tandem with an eye roll.
Totalitarians are thin-skinned and paranoid as a rule.
It’s about exerting power.
These assholes pretty much control their base. Their base plugs their ears whenever facts are presented to them.
The question that I raise is “then why care about what factual news people say? Why care about any protests when you can spin it effortlessly?”
Because fascism and authoritarianism is primarily concerned about flexing their muscles, their power. Demonstrating their reach.
It’s a dick measuring contest, so that their followers can see how big and thick their leaders can punish “others”.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
Universities have often played a role in being where protest movements begin and grow.
There’s a lot of reasons for this, you have a lot of students in one place, most students on scholarships and with loans have time on their hands to discuss issues of the day, most students aren’t constrained by work and family and property that would give others pause from participating in protest.
From the anti war movement in the 60s to the communist overthrow of China, mass political movements get their starts in universities.
So if you can set a precedent of criminalizing speech and make the punishments as cruel as possible, you make students think twice about protesting.
That’s what this is about, sure America is happy to do Israel’s bidding, but don’t think for one moment they actually give one flying fuck about that. They found a brown person with a foreign enough name that they could destroy for stepping out of line as a not so subtle way to say to every student, “shut up, keep your head down, and we won’t come after you”
It’s the same thing they are doing with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. They don’t care about these two individuals, they don’t have any special interest in harming them (though I’m sure they delight in it) they want to send a message to everyone else.
We have the power, shut up
That’s the message, step out of line and find out. Due process, free speech, that shit is over. You are welcome to pretend it still exists but challenge us and we are one clerical error from you enjoying a lifetime of free room and board at CECOT.
For this to work it has to be punishing, it has to be dehumanizing, it has to be spectacular. The goal is to make you think when you go to resist, “I don’t want to end up like that one guy…”
The point is to make this as visible and memorable as possible so when your personal breaking point is hit and you think to resist there’s a voice in your head that says “no I better not”
That is logical. Well written.
It’s quite simple. Israel First. Our country serves the Israeli authoritarian state, and if you dare speak out about what they’re doing to Palestinians in Gaza, Israel will have US Authorities make you disappear.
I’m addition to the other stuff, protest movements often begin at schools, so trying to preemptively control that has benefits for a regime concerned about future protests and civil unrest.
Cruelty is the point
Shithole country.
