All posts tagged: Visa

Trump’s Higher Education Crackdown: Visa Revocations, DEI Bans, Lawsuits and Funding Cuts | National News

Trump’s Higher Education Crackdown: Visa Revocations, DEI Bans, Lawsuits and Funding Cuts | National News

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump wasted no time targeting higher education reform in his second term, kicking off a fight that often seemed personal. Education in recent years has been the battleground for culture war disputes from immigration to transgender rights along with political posturing on issues like student loan forgiveness, admissions practices and free speech on campus. Republicans have long been skeptical of higher education and accuse academics of indoctrinating youth with progressive ideologies, and Trump claimed that college campuses have been “infested with radicalism like never before.” Trump’s efforts revolve around curbing what he calls a “woke” agenda, with many of his steps aimed at reversing diversity, equity and inclusion policies that he says unfairly benefit some students over others. As president, Trump has leveraged the power of the federal government to threaten funding and restrict foreign student status, demanding an unprecedented role in university admissions, curriculum and operations. In many cases, he has used accusations of antisemitism or the credo of law and order as wedges to force broader scrutiny of higher education administrators …

Global music star says they were warned not to say ‘ICE out’ or face losing her visa?

Global music star says they were warned not to say ‘ICE out’ or face losing her visa?

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Karol G says she has repeatedly been warned against speaking out about ICE’s operations in the U.S., as doing so could put her visa at risk. The Colombian pop star, 35, who this weekend will make Coachella history as the first Latina artist to headline the festival, said she wants to condemn the immigration agency’s actions. However, “People will say, ‘It’s better you don’t,’” said the singer-songwriter, whose real name is Carolina Giraldo Navarro, in a new cover story for Playboy. “Why? Because if you say the thing, maybe the next day you’ll get a call: ‘Hey, we are taking your visa away,’” she explained. “You become bait, because some people want to show their power.” The “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” artist admitted that if she were ever to say the popular anti-ICE phrase, “ICE Out,” her “team would kill” her. Karol …

A New Game Turns the H-1B Visa System Into a Surreal Simulation

A New Game Turns the H-1B Visa System Into a Surreal Simulation

Published by skeptic

More than half of the nine developers who worked on the game have either obtained a US visa or tried and failed to do so. Most of them are from China, but the team also intentionally recruited talent from other countries in the hopes of incorporating more diverse immigrant perspectives. “Everybody knows somebody that’s on a visa, but not all of them are vocal about that part of their identity,” says Andrea Saravia Pérez, an immigrant from Colombia who joined the team in February as a narrative designer. “How can we develop a project that’s interactive and shows people this immigration system that a lot of Americans are not familiar with?” There’s growing interest across the gaming industry in making political games, says Yang. When her team brought H1B.Life to the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week, she says they received a tremendous amount of interest and support because they are tackling an important societal issue without expecting to make much profit. (The game was supported by a philanthropic organization and the …

Tech researchers sue Trump administration over visa bans : NPR

Tech researchers sue Trump administration over visa bans : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem are named as defendants in a new lawsuit over the Trump administration’s immigration policy to suppress free speech. Anna Moneymaker, Janos Kummer and Heather Diehl/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Anna Moneymaker, Janos Kummer and Heather Diehl/Getty Images An adjunct professor at a university in the eastern U.S. who studies online harms to children has left the country because they are not an American citizen and fear being denied a visa or deported. At another university in the Northeast, a content moderation expert who has permanent resident status has shifted their focus to more “politically neutral” topics and stopped traveling internationally. A professor in the South who studies the role of media in American politics has ceased publishing op-eds on their research and decided not to hold public events to promote a new book they wrote on disinformation, because they’re worried they will lose their H-1B visa. These accounts from people who would only speak anonymously are detailed …

UK’s first visa ban in asylum crackdown | Politics News

UK’s first visa ban in asylum crackdown | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

The government will halt visa routes for nationals from four countries who the home secretary says have “abused” the UK’s generosity. An emergency brake is being placed on study visas for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, while work visas have also been stopped for Afghans. It’s the first time such visa bans have been implemented by the UK government. Shabana Mahmood claimed a growing number of migrants from these countries are using legal migration routes as a backdoor for claiming asylum. According to Home Office figures, 39% of the 100,000 who claimed asylum in 2025 did so after arriving via a legal migration route. A spike in asylum applications between 2021 and September last year was dominated by students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan. Ms Mahmood said: “Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused. That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity.” You need javascript enabled to view …

Singapore to launch AI, tech visa track with S,000 income requirement

Singapore to launch AI, tech visa track with S$30,000 income requirement

Published by Sam Flores

SINGAPORE: Singapore will introduce a new visa track in January 2027 for “pinnacle talent” in artificial intelligence and technology under the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass. This is to make Singapore more attractive to top talent in critical and emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Tuesday (Mar 3). The ONE Pass (AI and Tech) track will replace the existing Tech.Pass and offer more attractive terms, he said in parliament while laying out the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) spending plans. Currently, the salary requirement to obtain a Tech.Pass is a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500 (US$17,700) in the past year. Non-cash components are considered on a case-by-case basis. The new ONE Pass (AI and Tech) track will retain the ONE Pass scheme’s requirement to earn at least S$30,000 a month in the past year. On top of a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500, the requirement can be met through vested non-cash components, such as employee stock option plans and employee share ownership. MOM …

Labour’s Shabana Mahmood threatens Pakistan with visa ban | Politics | News

Labour’s Shabana Mahmood threatens Pakistan with visa ban | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Pakistan could face sweeping visa restrictions from Britain (Image: Getty) Pakistan could face sweeping visa restrictions from Britain after new figures laid bare how few rejected asylum seekers are being sent home. Official data shows that despite thousands of refusals, just 4.1 per cent of failed Pakistani applicants were returned last year — the equivalent of one in 25. The scale of the issue is significant. Pakistani nationals now represent the single largest group claiming asylum in the UK, accounting for roughly one in 10 applications overall, reports show. In 2024, 10,638 Pakistanis sought asylum — double the previous year’s total and ahead of countries including Eritrea (8,948), Iran (7,419) and Afghanistan (6,462). A striking feature of the trend is how many initially arrived through legitimate routes. Large numbers entered Britain on student, work or visitor visas before later applying for asylum — a move that can pave the way towards permanent residency if successful. Yet more than 70 per cent of Pakistani claims are rejected. Read more: Zia Yusuf pledges British version of Trump’s …

Tesla must face lawsuit alleging it replaced laid-off US workers with H-1B visa holders

Tesla must face lawsuit alleging it replaced laid-off US workers with H-1B visa holders

Published by skeptic

A federal judge has ruled that Tesla must face a class-action lawsuit alleging the automaker systematically discriminated against American workers by preferring H-1B visa holders for engineering positions, even as it laid off more than 6,000 US employees in 2024. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said the plaintiff had offered “just enough facts” for the case to proceed, though he expressed skepticism about the strength of the claims. The ruling Software engineer Scott Taub filed the proposed class action in September 2025, alleging Tesla passed him over for an engineering job as part of a broader “systematic preference” to hire foreign visa holders in violation of federal civil rights law. Taub claims a recruiter for a staffing company told him the engineering position he sought was “H-1B only.” Advertisement – scroll for more content Judge Chhabria, in a brief order issued late Monday, allowed Taub’s claims to move forward. The lawsuit alleges that Tesla hired an estimated 1,355 H-1B visa holders in 2024 while laying off more than 6,000 workers domestically, with the vast majority …