Designating Antifa as Domestic Terrorist Organization Is Dangerous, Threatens Civil Liberties
Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is a broad, community-based movement composed of individuals organizing against racial and economic injustice. Those who identify with the label represent a large spectrum of the political left. The Trump administration frequently uses the term to describe any group or individual that demonstrates in opposition to its policies. Far-right extremists use similar tactics.
The SPLC’s official position on Antifa.
The move by the president is an unprecedented and alarming development with significant implications for the civil liberties of U.S. citizens, particularly those of color, who are already disproportionately policed. The designation would grant federal law enforcement broad powers, under the federal terrorism code, to surveil and investigate anyone labeled as antifa. It could also allow federal law enforcement to broadly target anyone involved in protests viewed unfavorably by the Trump administration, even retroactively.
President Trump’s announcement is rooted in politics, not the present realities of the terror threat in the U.S. Classifying antifa as a domestic terror organization has been a wish-list item for the president’s allies on the far right and in the conservative mainstream for years. The designation retreads some of the darkest moments in our federal law enforcement’s past, further victimizes communities that have already been wronged and presents a dire threat to the civil liberties of all citizens.
Check out the link under the photo above to see how hard it would be (but not impossible) to get a terrorist designation accomplished and see this story from CNN (yes, CNN) to learn more about Antifa and what they want.
The exact origins of the group are unknown, but Antifa can be traced to Nazi Germany and Anti-Fascist Action, a militant group founded in the 1980s in the United Kingdom.
Modern-day Antifa members have become more active in making themselves known at public rallies and within the progressive movement, says Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
“What they’re trying to do now is not only become prominent through violence at these high-profile rallies, but also to reach out through small meetings and through social networking to cultivate disenfranchised progressives who heretofore were peaceful,” Levin said.
[….]
While it can be difficult to distinguish Antifa activists from other protesters, some dress head to toe in black. Members call this the “Black Bloc.”
They also wear masks to hide their identities from the police and whomever they are protesting.
If you hadn’t had enough yet of Chinese efforts to destroy America, here is one more way for them to do it using our lax student visa program.
And, get this: This isn’t about their students using our colleges as a springboard for the advancement of China, they are sending students from K-12 here!
Thanks to reader ‘Meanymom’ for spotting this story last week at the Center for Immigration Studies(a story surely lost between Chinese Virus crisis stories and the media obsession with orchestrated mayhem going on in major American cities).
I’ve written a lot about the Chinese buying up food processing plants, but schools!
Chinese Investors Bought K-12 Private Schools in the United States
Helpful bullet points!
~In December 2017, two different Chinese investment firms bought primary schools and at least one secondary school in the United States.
~Foreign nationals can obtain F-1 visas to attend U.S. schools beginning in kindergarten and running through graduate and post-graduate education.
~In 2018, 39,904 Chinese F-1 students were attending secondary schools in the United States.
~The strong demand among Chinese nationals for a U.S. secondary education reportedly comes from their families’ belief that attending an American high school will increase the likelihood that those students will be subsequently accepted to U.S. colleges and universities.
An almost two-and-a half year-old article in China Daily detailed an interesting phenomenon: Chinese investors purchasing private K-12 schools in the United States “in the hopes of cashing in on Chinese students’ quest for admission into a US college.” That report not only highlights an interesting pathway for foreign students to obtain a student visa to attend U.S. colleges and universities, but it also shines a light on the F-1 nonimmigrant student visa program at the primary and secondary level.
The article explained that in December 2017, “Primavera Capital, a China-based private equity firm, paid about $500 million for the Stratford School system, which operates schools throughout California.” That same month, Newopen Group, a “Chinese education company”, bought Florida Preparatory Academy for an undisclosed amount.
Although we generally think of F-1 student visas in the context of colleges and universities, those visas are also available for foreign nationals to study in the United States at a private K-12 school, or a public high school, as well.
Study at a public high school is limited to 12 months for an F-1, and the foreign student must reimburse the costs of tuition (dependents of F-1s, known as “F-2s”, can study wherever they like, including public school), but there is no limit on the amount of time that a foreign student can attend a private K-12 school.
The first step to obtaining that visa is acceptance by a school approved by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP, which is administered by ICE), followed by that school’s issuance of a Form I-20 and the filing of an application by the student at a U.S. embassy or consulate for an F-1 visa.
The list of SEVP certified schoolsruns 272 pages, and includes the middle schools run by Stratford Schools in Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Fremont, as well as Florida Preparatory Academy. Tuition at the three Stratford schools runs $23,510 per year, and there is no boarding option, raising the question of where F-1 middle school students live.
I can shed some light on this as a few years ago a private school near me was trying to stay afloat by bringing in Korean middle school students and the school asked me if I would be willing to board a student. So clearly they tap into a local network of families they see as welcoming.
There are, by my count, at least 200 elementary schools on the list (the level of education offered for many is not entirely clear, and I am basing my count on the number identified as “elementary”) and at least 75 middle schools (again, they are not all identified as such, and there are likely many more).
I’ve posted this news in my ‘Student Visa Fraud’ category, but it isn’t really fraud when our federal government has set up these sweet deals for foreign students and countries that hate us!
Endnote: I don’t know about you, but in our household we are increasingly vigilant while shopping and steering clear of anything made in China. Needless to say, it is a challenging project!
***Update*** Bomb throwers to be released on bond against wishes of federal prosecutors.
One of the lawyers charged with hurling Molotov cocktails at a police cruiser is a 32-year-old Princeton educated lawyer and his partner in (alleged) crime is a 31-year-old “human rights” lawyer and activist who worked on refugee issues in Turkey.
Accused Molotov cocktail hurler is Ivy League-educated lawyer, community board member
A Ivy League-educated lawyer and member of a Brooklyn community board was among those arrested for hurling a Molotov cocktail at a marked NYPD vehicle amid George Floyd protests, it was revealed Sunday.
Colinford Mattis, 32, was allegedly behind the wheel of a tan minivan as his passenger, fellow attorney Urooj Rahman, allegedly hurled the incendiary at an empty NYPD vehicle outside the 88th Precinct station house in Fort Greene early on Saturday.
Mattis, a graduate of Princeton University and New York University law school, is an associate at corporate Manhattan firm Pryor Cashman.
[….]
Rahman, 31, meanwhile, is also registered as an attorney in New York state, who was admitted to the bar in June 2019 after graduating from Fordham University School of Law. It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether she was affiliated with any law firm.
It’s unclear how she and Mattis know each other.
The Brooklyn residents are federally charged with causing damage by fire and explosives to a police vehicle, during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
Thanks to a reader for a tip! I bet there is so much more to be learned about this pair.
Urooj Rahman’15 worked with the Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) and Refugee Rights Turkey (RTT), which, through their legal work, assist and empower refugees fleeing Turkey. Urooj provided direct services to asylum-seekers at the Center for Refugee Rights in Istanbul. As a foreign lawyer in Turkey, she lent her legal assistance mostly to non-Syrians going through the UNHCR refugee status determination procedure. She also served several months in New York with RSN, using her direct service experience to inform her contribution to international advocacy and awareness-raising initiatives.
I’ll try to come back to this story, but after being away, and then due to a storm losing internet service for days, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
An almost two-and-a half year-old article in China Daily detailed an interesting phenomenon: Chinese investors purchasing private K-12 schools in the United States “in the hopes of cashing in on Chinese students’ quest for admission into a US college.” That report not only highlights an interesting pathway for foreign students to obtain a student visa to attend U.S. colleges and universities, but it also shines a light on the F-1 nonimmigrant student visa program at the primary and secondary level.
