Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Sep 24, 2020 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Under DHS's new proposed rule, if you were born in, or are a citizen of, one of the countries on this map, you would be banned from getting a four-year degree in the United States, with a student visa limited to two years maximum.

The thread has all the countries.
Rather than have people dig through the threads to get to the original rationale, here's the relevant provision I built this map off of.

The vast majority of these countries would be banned from 4-year-degrees based on this overstay provision.

It's collective punishment.
Here's a thread I did on some of the other changes made by the rule, which was published this morning.

People who want to oppose the rule will be able to provide comments in opposition to the rule, starting tomorrow and lasting through 10/25/2020.

Here's the best example I can give for why collective punishment based on visa overstay rates is arbitrary and cruel.

In 2019, six students from Tuvalu were supposed to leave the US. One didn't.

As a result, the visa overstay rate was 17%—meaning all Tuvalans would be punished.
Also, whoops, just realizing I forgot to add Chad to the map. Chad would also be subject to the ban, because they had a student visa/exchange visitor overstay rate over 10% in FY2019.

That completes the band across the middle of Africa.
One final thing to add to this thread; that things are not totally lost if the rule goes into effect.

Students in those situation would be able to ask DHS for an extension of their visas past two years. So that means it's not a total ban.

But those extensions aren't guaranteed.
Putting this here: I maybe should not have used the word "ban." Some people would still be able to get a four-year degree, but would be required to apply to extend their visas repeatedly through their time in college—extensions which aren't guaranteed.
Starting tomorrow morning, people will be able to leave a comment in opposition to this rule at this link. federalregister.gov/documents/2020…
DHS says it's fixing a major problem. But DHS data says just 32,023 people are suspected of overstaying a student/exchange visa in 2019.

And because the rule is based on PERCENT, the countries with the highest NUMBER of overstays (China, India, Brazil, Canada) aren't affected.
Here's why a % threshold is so stupid:

China: 11,030 student/exchange overstays (unaffected by rule)
India: 5,304 (unaffected)
Brazil: 3,177 (unaffected)
Saudi Arabia: 2,983 (unaffected)
South Korea: 2,492 (unaffected)
Japan: 1,418 (unaffected)
...
Tuvalu: 1 (restricted)

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More from @ReichlinMelnick

Aug 12
Trump's people at DHS are referencing here "Which Way, Western Man," a book by white supremacist William Gayley Simpson that was published by an American Neo-Nazi organization, the National Alliance.

In the book, Simpson argued that Hitler was right and Jews must be killed. Image
To be blunt; the propagandists running @DHSgov are deliberately pushing thinly-veiled neo-Nazi material through the official communications channels of the U.S. government. Their goal is stirring outrage (to which they will express fake outrage) and signaling to their followers.
@DHSgov Calling it now, @DHSgov is going to post a recruitment ad entitled “Our Struggle,” and will call you a lunatic if you even dare to suggest that’s a reference to Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”), even though it obviously will be.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 4
UPDATE: Remember this Venezuelan guy who was imprisoned in El Salvador without trial because some numbskull at @DHSgov thought his Real Madrid tattoo was a gang tattoo?

He's free now, and he confirms that the people the Trump admin paid El Salvador to imprison were all tortured. Image
Jerce Reyes Barrios is a soccer player who entered the U.S. legally in September 2024 to seek asylum. A CBP officer at the time made the clearly false accusation that his tattoo made him a gang member, so he was detained.

That was bad enough — but Trump escalated it to torture. Image
Thanks to the Trump admin, Mr. Reyes Barrios was imprisoned without trial for four months in El Salvador, where he was beaten and abused repeatedly by guards.

He has no criminal record, entered legally, and the only allegations of gang membership were a tattoo and a "hand sign." Image
Read 7 tweets
Jul 23
ALSO NEW: A federal judge in Tennessee just granted Abrego Garcia release on bond with conditions, finding that the DOJ did NOT meet its burden to prove that Mr. Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or such a danger to the community that release must be denied even with conditions. Image
Judge Crenshaw in Tennessee finds that the government has failed to meet its burden to prove that Mr. Abrego Garcia is so dangerous that no conditions could justify his release, and therefore upholds the magistrate judge's decision granting release on bond with conditions. Image
Judge Crenshaw on the allegations of MS-13 membership:

"[F]or the court to find that Abrego is a member of or in affiliation with MS-13, it would have to make so many inferences from the Government's proffered evidence in its favor that such conclusion would border on fanciful." Image
Read 5 tweets
Jul 22
AWFUL scenario. Border Patrol agents raided a car wash and arrested a DACA recipient working there. He has a REAL ID, but they didn't even let him show his ID, they just grabbed him and threw him in a van.

He was then detained for a MONTH before getting bond. Image
It's literally in the first paragraph of the excerpt: no.
He's not. In fact, the article suggests that he still has has DACA status, despite a month in detention, and remains protected from deportation.
Read 5 tweets
Jul 19
CRAZY story. An 82-year-old from Chile lost his green card. In June, he went to pick up a new one from @USCIS. While there, he was handcuffed and detained by ICE.

An unknown caller then told family she could help, then later said he’d died. But now he’s turned up in Guatemala! Image
This story raises a TON of questions for @DHSgov:

- Why was this lawful permanent resident detained when picking up a replacement green card? He has no criminal record.
- Why was he not in the ICE detainee locator system?
- How did he end up in Guatemala?
- Who called family? Image
Image
@DHSgov The mysterious caller undoubtedly does raise some red flags about a hoax, but there are a couple important key difference:

- He was detained by officials at a government office and his wife saw it happen.
- He turned up in another country, so there has to be a record of how.
Read 4 tweets
Jul 19
Andry Hernández Romero, the innocent make-up artist imprisoned without trial for 4 months in El Salvador by the Trump admin, is FREE.

He was wrongfully accused of being a gang member because of his “mom” and “dad” tattoos, and illegally sent to El Salvador without due process. Image
Maduro has indicated that the men will not be immediately detained.

This story has been a major public relations talking point for his government. They are saying that they “rescued” the men in CECOT, so for now they’ll all have public relations on their side.
As a reminder, Andry was never ordered deported. He was detained at a port of entry in late 2024 by CBP b/c of his tattoos.

He had a pending asylum hearing in his immigration court case. Before that happened, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act and imprisoned him in El Salvador.
Read 9 tweets

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