Month: June 2025

Trump’s Mass Cancellation of Student Visas Illustrates the Lawlessness of His Immigration Crackdown

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) suddenly terminated about 4,700 records in the database of foreign students with F-1 visas authorizing them to attend American universities. That move, which sowed panic among students across the country, was the result of the Trump administration’s “Student Criminal Alien Initiative.” But contrary to the implication of that label, the initiative affected many people who had no criminal record that would justify revoking their visas. Nor did ICE cite any other specific justification listed in the relevant regulations. Instead, the students were told their records had been terminated for “otherwise failing to maintain status.””

https://reason.com/2025/05/23/trumps-mass-cancellation-of-student-visas-illustrates-the-lawlessness-of-his-immigration-crackdown/

Can We End Racism by Ending the Idea of Race Itself?

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Mason notes that our ancestors migrated at levels that most people grossly underestimate, leading to far more genetic mixing than people typically assume. She points out that our current understanding of DNA undermines a lot of assumptions that arose from observing external traits, such as skin color, nose shape, and eye shape, since such traits can arise from the same genetic allele but be inherited from entirely different people. Furthermore, thanks to the random genetic recombination that happens with every new generation, 75 percent of your genetic makeup is attributable to only 5 percent of your ancestors. A 23andMe test will tell you about only 8 percent of your ancestors, because they’re the only ones left represented in your DNA today. In fact, it’s possible that two dark South Africans can be more genetically divergent from one another than one of them is from a white Swede.”

https://reason.com/2025/05/25/how-to-end-racism/

The Alien Enemies Act Doesn’t Say What Trump Claims It Says

Posted on by Lone Candle

“President Donald Trump claims that the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 grants him the power to deport certain Venezuelan-born aliens without due process, based on the mere allegation of membership in a criminal street gang.

But the text of the Alien Enemies Act does not allow the president to do anything of the sort. “Whenever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government,” the act states, the president may direct the “removal” of “all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be within the United States, and not actually naturalized.”

The crimes of the alleged members of the street gang Tren de Aragua do not meet this legal standard. There is no “declared war” between the United States and Venezuela, and there is no “invasion or predatory incursion” of the U.S. by “any foreign nation or government.” The gang is not a foreign state, and the gang’s alleged crimes, heinous as they may be, do not qualify as acts of war by a foreign state. Trump’s frequent talk about a rhetorical “invasion” of the U.S. by undocumented immigrants utterly fails to satisfy the law’s requirements.”

https://reason.com/2025/05/26/dont-use-the-alien-enemies-act-on-alien-friends/

Trump issues new multi-country travel ban

Posted on by Lone Candle

“President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a sweeping new travel ban for people from 19 countries, citing national security risks.

The ban fully restricts people from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States. The president is also partially restricting and limiting U.S. entry for nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/04/trump-issues-new-multi-country-travel-ban-00388047

Cadets who met all Air Force Academy graduation standards denied commissions because they’re transgender

Posted on by Lone Candle

Cadets have finished school and have qualified to join the AirForce, but are not allowed in because they are trans.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cadets-met-air-force-academy-225601194.html

The Trade War Is Eroding America’s Soft Power

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The direct cost of President Donald Trump’s trade war will be borne by American consumers and businesses—of that, there should no longer be much debate.

But trade wars also come with indirect costs and unforeseen consequences. Some of those show up on balance sheets in the form of lower profits, losses in the stock market, or stagnating wages. Some are best counted under the Christmas tree, where higher prices might mean fewer toys (as the president now admits) and other goodies that make life a little more joyful, as tariffs squeeze wallets and reduce discretionary income.

Others are trickier to sum up, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

“The administration’s trade policy sends a message to the world: America is an unreliable ally that sees you only as a source of wealth; and if you don’t have wealth, you’ll pay for it,””

…

“”The United States’ role as a linchpin of this system has enhanced its position as the pre-eminent global power,” writes Murray. “Yet the new administration’s curious tariff policy threatens all of this, for no discernible benefit.””

…

“American soft power rides on the back of the global trading system. American investment and purchasing power help build factories and lift people out of extreme poverty. For the countries that benefit from all that, American interests are first and foremost. Take away the benefits of trade, and the rest fades too, warns Murray.

Higher tariffs and reduced global trade “kills US soft power with these nations and leaves a geopolitical vacuum into which US rivals like China will expand,” he writes. “High tariff rates on south east Asian countries, for example, will exacerbate the drift of those countries towards the Chinese sphere of influence that has been happening in the wake of trade uncertainty since the first Trump administration.””

https://reason.com/2025/05/26/the-trade-war-is-eroding-americas-soft-power/

Could 2025 See the Lowest Murder Rate Ever Recorded?

Posted on by Lone Candle

“the murder rate in 2024 not just falling from the 2020 spike but returning to pre-COVID levels. That brings us to the present, and to a question: Could 2025 see the lowest murder rate ever recorded?”

…

“Fewer people are being killed than they were during a major homicide increase” is not compelling messaging, to be sure. But that’s not what’s happening here. We’re not talking about a record decline after a precipitous surge; we’re talking about a record low, period. While it’s still possible that won’t pan out, the fact that it’s even on the table after a bloody few years is such good news that journalists might even consider leading with it.”

Could this be aided by aging demographics?

https://reason.com/2025/05/27/could-2025-see-the-lowest-murder-rate-ever-recorded/