S.T.O.P. Condemns Columbia ICE Arrest, State Dept. Visa Revocation as ‘AI-Powered McCarthyism’

S.T.O.P. condemns ICE’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card-holder who recently graduated from Columbia University.

View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns Columbia ICE Arrest, State Dept. Visa Revocation as ‘AI-Powered McCarthyism’ (New York, NY 3/10/2025) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, condemns ICE’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card-holder who recently graduated from Columbia University, and a new State Department effort targeting student visa holders for their social media views as “AI-Powered McCarthyism.” Under the new State Department program, unspecified forms of AI would evaluate student social media postings, targeting those visa holders making statements critical of Israel.  The civil rights group, which long opposed collection of visa-holders’ social media accounts, warned the unconstitutional effort was an unprecedented attack on academic freedom and the First Amendment. SEE: The New York Times - Immigration Authorities Arrest Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/nyregion/ice-arrests-palestinian-activist-columbia-protests.html?pvid=1AC862D0-F4E1-4DEF-ADB3-A25A867357CE Democracy Now - State Department Deploys AI to Deny Visas to Visitors with Pro-Palestinian Views https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/7/headlines/state_department_deploys_ai_to_deny_visas_to_visitors_with_pro_palestinian_views “Using AI to track student speech and deport unwelcome viewpoints is more nightmarish than a Black Mirror episode,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Having the White House punish a permanent resident with arrest and deportation for his political views is a form of censorship so repugnant to the First Amendment that it truly eclipses the darkest moments of McCarthyism. This administration isn’t just undermining freedom of speech and rule of law, it’s upending everything American academic freedom once stood for.” The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.