The Sunday Subject: April 13, 2025
Week twelve: ICE Targets UB, Trump Continues to Swing Wildly On Tarrif Policy
ICE Revokes 13 UB Students’ Student Visas
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has been central to convicted felon Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, both legal and illegal — and in a few instances US citizens — have revoked the student visas of four current UB students and seven recent graduates. Rosanna Berardi, a partner at Berardi Immigration Law, talked to WKBW about the unprecedented nature of the crackdown.
“Historically, we’ve never really seen this type of action,” pointing out that visas have only ever been revoked when the holder committed a serious crime, whereas the Trump administration is now arguing that law-abiding students are, “potentially a threat to national security and safety,” without elaborating on why. The University has encouraged international students to reach out to International Student Services, and that UB is, “committed to ensuring students and employees feel secure, safe, and informed”
Trump Administration Refuses To Free Innocents Deported To El Salvador
Two weeks ago, convicted felon Donald Trump sent 238 Veneuelan and 23 Salvadoran immigrants to an overseas prison without criminal charges, a trial, or access to a lawyer. This week, it was revealed that, beyond not being granted due process, several people caught up in Trump’s dragnet were there by mistake. Frengel Reyes was arrested because ICE listed the wrong last name on a suspected gang member’s files. Kilmar Abrego had been granted legal protection from being deported by a judge in 2019.
ICE also singled out Latino immigrants with tattoos — makeup artist Andry Hérnandez was determined to be a gang member because of tattoos that read “Mom” and “Dad”. Dallas baker Neri Alvarado was arrested and deported for an autism awareness tattoo. Professional soccer player Jerce Reyes was arrested because ICE decided the logo for Real Madrid was in fact a gang tatoo.
The Trump regime even openly acknowledged that Kilmar Abrego Garcia — who came to this country fleeing the same gang violence that was falsely accused of — was deported because of an “administrative error,” but they have fought any effort to return him, including ignoring a ruling by US District Judge Paula Xinis, who called Abrego Garcia’s deportation an “illegal act,” and demanded to know his whereabouts, although that information was not forthcoming.
Trump openly acknowledge that he would not respect the federal court’s ruling, saying he would respect a Supreme Court ruling but that, “I”m not talking about the lower court. I have great respect for the Supreme Court.” In reponse, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling on Thursday, only asking Judge Xinis to clarify some of the language in her ruling, which she did the following day. Trump’s Justice Department remained defiant, making no move to release the innocent man as of press time, and releasing a statement with the bizarre assertion that, “this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.” The ruling had, in fact, agreed with the judge and the issue at hand was not a matter of foreign policy.
Trump Increases, Decreases Tarrifs
A few days after convicted felon Donald Trump announced massive tarrifs on nearly every country on Earth, up to and including uninhabited islands and US military outposts, he abruptly reveresed course, setting tarrifs even higher on China and lower nearly everywhere else. The stock market, which plummetted after the initial announcement, bounced back, prompting speculation from many — including Nobel laureate Paul Krugman — that the abrupt swings in policy were an insider trading scheme, allowing the wealthy to buy up stock for cheap when the market collapsed, knowing it was going to immediately rebound.
Krugman also cited economic analyst Joseph Politano, who pointed out how inconsistent the hastily-rewritten tarrifs are:
