It is critical that we don’t get complacent and assume that the United States is impervious to widespread ethnic and racial violence, or even “aggressive intolerance,” that we are above such. If you had read that the president of Russia, the Prime Minister of France, or PM of Japan, was demanding the identities of all foreign students in retaliation, one might feel a vice-grip encircle the spine. We would understand history and know that this is how fascist governments progress. We should feel the same shiver as it happens here, as President Donald Trump demands the identities and country of origin of all foreign students at Harvard.
To this point, we feel little beyond anger – at least that’s the sense one gets. Perhaps Donald Trump is so incompetent that we protect ourselves by assuming that he can’t succeed in his grandest plans. But that’s cold comfort given the reality that he has picked out a single university and a select group of people to marginalize and punish.
Clearly, like too many other matters, this is personal to Donald Trump. He has picked Harvard because it has put up some fight (Not enough) against his worst abuses. The very fact that Trump singled out a specific university – one that pissed him off, for “punishment,” is as fascist as demanding the country of origin for all students, just somewhat less dangerous. Today, Trump wrote:
“Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to.
Nobody told us that! We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!”
Similarly, Trump made the following statement:
Trump on foreign students at Harvard: “We want a list of those foreign students … I assume with Harvard many will be bad."
“No one told us that”??? The United States government issues student visas along with Green Cards, and work visas – the federal government already has the identity of foreigners in this country. Trump wants the names of the ones at Harvard specifically, to punish the school and students who have caused him such angst. Fascists punish dissent.
Almost as a side issue, no country on earth has benefited more from having elite international institutions attracting the world’s most accomplished students and teachers. Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, all are stuffed with professors and students who are world leaders in their field – and they’re all here in the United States, where – if we’re lucky, they decide to stay and create the next generation A.I. algorithm, cure cancer, or engineer cold fusion. Too often, the Right forgets that immigrants made this country “great” in the first place. Now, Trump is intimidating some of the best of them because they’re foreigners.
Note, too – he wants their country of origin. You might otherwise think that a foreigner is a foreigner, but it appears as though Trump wants to know if you’re from Russia, Saudi Arabia (Where the 9-11 terrorists were from), and probably Germany, etc., so as to go after brown people from countries that oppose him.
Not that Harvard is any different in receiving federal grant money than your local community college. The difference is that Trump is picking and choosing his targets – like a good dictator, and wants the most visible one, all to set an example and unleash his personal fury.
If it happened anywhere else, the State Department would be pointing to a more dangerous, fascist regime, issuing warnings for all those opposed to the government in that land. Perhaps we’re about to hear of some countries posting that very thing.
It can happen here.
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God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and also on X at @JasonMiciak, and please follow me now on Bluesky.
Zoomers, we are always in need of donations. It’s been an especially rough month, and my own health has not been great these past few weeks, which just adds to the frustration. Anything you can spare will be immensely appreciated. And thank you to all who have donated generously already. Ursula
