Follow up to the post below

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PROMISES KEPT:

Rubio says at least 300 foreign students’ visas have been revoked.

“Maybe more, it might be more than 300 at this point,” Rubio said at a press conference in Guyana when asked to confirm Axios reporting on the topic.

“We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” he added, saying he hopes it’s even more than the 300 estimate.

“I hope at some point we run out because we have gotten rid of all of them, but we’re looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up.”

The Hill does its best to frame this as bad news but this longer quote on Rumeysa Ozturk, the Turkish student who was detained, tells a much better story:

“We revoked her visa. It’s an F-1 visa, I believe. We revoked it, and here’s why—I’ve said it everywhere, and I’ll say it again.

Let me be abundantly clear: If you apply for a student visa to come to the United States and you say you’re coming not just to study, but to participate in movements that vandalize universities, harass students, take over buildings, and cause chaos—we’re not giving you that visa.

If you lie, get the visa, and then engage in that kind of behavior once you’re here, we’re going to revoke it. And once your visa is revoked, you’re no longer legally in the United States. Like every country, we have the right to remove you. It’s that simple.

It’s crazy—stupid, even—for any country to let people in who say, ‘I’m going to your universities to riot, take over libraries, and harass people.’ I don’t care what movement you’re with. Why would any country allow that?

We gave you a visa to study and earn a degree—not to become a social activist tearing up our campuses. If you use your visa to do that, we’ll take it away. And I encourage every country to do the same.

Every country has the right to decide who enters as a visitor. If you invite me to your house for dinner and I start putting mud on your couch and spray-painting your kitchen, you’re going to kick me out. We’ll do the same if you come to the U.S. and cause a ruckus.

We don’t want that here. Go do it in your own country—but not in ours.”

When the facts are on your side, pound the facts; when the law is on your side, pound the law; when neither the facts nor the law is on your side, pound the table

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That “constitutional crisis” Democrats and their media monkeys are howling about? It’s here, alright, and the Democrats have brought it about, by using cherry-picked federal judges to block and delay the implementation of the policies of our duly elected government.

Before discussing the latest outrage by our judiciary, understand that a non-citizen has no inherent right to enter our country. Permission to temporarily enter can be granted, but that permission can be revoked at any time, for any cause or for no cause at all, and the visitor being tossed out can no more sue the government than can the foreigner denied a visa in the first place. Neither has standing to bring a suit, and federal courts have no power or authority to even hear a case involving a revoked or denied visa. So sayeth the U.S. Supreme Court, and it has so ruled just months ago:

December 10, 2024: The Supreme Court Confirms No Judicial Review for Revoked Visas

BOUARFA v. MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, et al.

Certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit No. 23–583. Argued October 15, 2024—Decided December 10, 2024

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found appeals to revoked visas cannot be heard in federal courts. As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is a discretionary agency, their decisions are not subject to judicial review for revoked visas. This affirms a July 2023 Eleventh Circuit court decision finding the same.

The Department of Homeland Security secretary is given broad authority, by Congress, to revoke a visa for any reason at any time. As such, there is no legal basis for judicial review of revoked visas. The case emphasizes an important distinction in immigration law: some decisions are mandatory, requiring officials to follow specific rules, while others are discretionary, allowing officials the freedom to decide. The Court determined that visa revocations fall into the discretionary category, meaning these decisions cannot be reviewed by the courts.

In the Court’s opinion, they noted Section 1155 as an absolute confirmation of discretion. USCIS may choose to revoke previously approved visa petitions at any time, for any reason the Secretary and USCIS determine is a “good and sufficient cause.”  In her written opinion on behalf of the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson clarifies that Congress did not outline specific criteria or conditions for the Secretary or USCIS to follow when determining if a visa should be revoked. Consequently, their authority is not constrained by any defined limitations.

An overview provided by Google AI responding to the prompt, “Can a US visa be revoked without cause?”

Yes, a U.S. visa can be revoked without a specific cause, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary has broad authority to do so, and there's no legal basis for judicial review of such revocations. 

  • Broad Authority:

    The DHS secretary, by congressional mandate, has the authority to revoke a visa for any reason at any time. 

  • No Judicial Review:

    There's no legal basis for judicial review of revoked visas. 

  • Discretionary Authority:

    Consular officers, the Secretary of State, or DOS officials to whom the Secretary of State has delegated authority, are authorized to revoke a nonimmigrant visa at any time, in their discretion. 

  • Visa Revocation vs. Cancellation:

    A revoked visa means your visa is canceled because of a violation or something incorrect you did during your visa application (with prejudice). A canceled visa can happen with or without any specific reason (without prejudice). 

  • Examples of Revocation:

    Revocations may occur due to anything from administrative errors to more serious concerns. 

So that’s the law, and here’s a federal judge directly defying it and the Supreme Court.

The setup:

Homeland Security Detains Tufts University Student for Supporting Hamas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday explained why it had detained Tufts University student Rumesya Ozturk earlier this week.

Footage of Ozturk’s arrest went viral on social media. The incident raised questions about the Trump administration’s targeting of college students who have participated in anti-Israel protests and activities.

Ozturk, a Turkish national, had been residing in the United States on a student visa.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in a post on X that an investigation revealed that Ozturk had been “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”

She further stated that “A visa is a privilege not a right” and that “Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated.”

And into the fray jumps a federal Judge, Obama appointee Indira Talwani, issuing orders, and claiming an authority to decide immigration matters that the Supreme Court has ruled she doesn’t have.

At court hearing in Boston on Thursday morning, the district judge Indira Talwani … issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Rumeysa Ozturk was being detained. Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the district of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ advance notice.

A federal judge then ordered DHS and Ice to respond in court on Thursday morning to an emergency habeas corpus request to produce Ozturk.

What’s going to happen here, I predict, is that, rather than let the sabotage of the reforms initiated by Trump to continue, he’ll direct the Department of Justice and other agencies to simply ignore these ultra vires (acting or done beyond one's legal power or authority) judicial rulings and fight it out in the Supreme Court down the road after the fact. The technical legal term for this tactic is “go pound sand”, or, in barrister English, “sod off, Swampy”.

Chief Justice Roberts expressed worry last week that the courts are in danger of becoming politicized, but that’s long since occured. The danger now is that the executive branch will simply declare itself beyond the reach of these activist judges and go its merry way. Justified, but it will indeed be the constitutional crisis most rational people fear.

Fun times.

Sure sounds like a terrorist to me

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A Las Vegas man has been charged in the Molotov cocktail attack that torched several Teslas at a dealership last week. 

Paul Hyon Kim, 36, was arrested Wednesday by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, after at least five cars were allegedly set on fire March 18 at a local Tesla Collision Center.

Kim has been charged with multiple crimes ranging from destruction of property, arson, and possessing a fire device, according to jail records. 

He will also face federal charges, Spencer Evans, the FBI agent-in-charge of the bureau's Las Vegas office, told reporters at a Thursday news briefing. 

"There's nothing courageous or noble about firebombing private property and terrorizing your local community," Evans said. "The self-righteous mob that's cheering you on today to commit acts of violence on their behalf will leave you high and dry and forget about you tomorrow. And at the end of the day, you and you alone will be held responsible and face the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence."

No question that for all the love and marriage proposals being showered on Luigi Mangeonio, he’ll be showering alone (or, at least, without civilian company) for the next 20 -35 years; no one will be joining him in Leavenworth. Likewise, the politicians and TV talking heads cheering on Tesla arsonists today will be found relaxing comfortably in their homes tomorrow; prison’s for chumps and suckers.

Police say Kim arrived near the location in a black Hyundai Elantra before walking over to the Tesla building. He allegedly concealed his face, wore gloves and black clothing.

He allegedly also damaged surveillance cameras with a rifle, police said.

The word "resist" was spray-painted on the Tesla center’s front doors. An unlit Molotov cocktail was found in one of the cars, police said. 

Authorities said Kim's social media activity showed potential links to communist groups and Palestinian causes. His DNA matched DNA samples collected at the scene of the attack, authorities said. 

Investigators searched two vehicles linked to Kim and his apartment, and found multiple firearms, including rifles, a shotgun a handgun, gun parts, as well as ammunition. 

America’s Paper of Record has more:

I'll just bet there are

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No more streaming YouTube videos for Greenwich elementary school students

GREENWICH — Greenwich elementary school students can no longer watch YouTube videos while using their school-issued device.

This is because starting Tuesday, the school district officially restricted YouTube access on devices given to pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students.

"There have been some issues with students watching videos that were not necessary for learning grade level content."

New to the market in Old Greenwich, "a stunning Shore Colonial"

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I’ve got a folder on my computer where I’ve been listing descriptions that describe the house as “stunning”. Probably not dragging them out and posting them here, but suffice to say that “stunning” is the new literary version of Polar Bear Blue displacing even “this one won’t last” (to be fair, not much is lasting these days).

In any event, 4 Park Avenue is for sale at $2.8 million; that’s actually not a bad price, in this market.

Speaking of plane spotters, here's some interesting speculation that certain Iranians may soon join their ranks

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“I don’t see anything, how about you?”

Anyone Seen What's Happening at Diego Garcia Lately?

Duane Patterson

…. What I do find of extraordinary importance is what is taking place on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean that happens to contain a very long 12,000-foot runway. 

Diego Garcia Air Force Base is a joint U.S. and U.K. base on the largest of the Chagos Islands. The Brits have controlled much of the region as part of their British Indian Ocean Territories, but in 2024, they negotiated transfer of the island to Mauritania, with the exception of a 99-year lease for the Air Base, which is now operated and used by both the Brits and the Americans. It also happens to be due south of Iran. 

In the last 72 hours, a pretty significant buildup of U.S. aerial assets have been arriving on the archipelago, and the amount of open source information thus far is something that very well might be of great consequence to the greater Middle East very soon. 

Most of those B-2's, the bat-wing stealth bombers that will single-handedly ruin any adversary's day if they happen to drop the types of premium ordinance they usually contain, are usually stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base about three hours west of St. Louis. There are indications that there may be as many as 7 of the B-2's now on that island in the Indian Ocean. They're not there for rest and recreation. 

… Donald Trump was the first president since Ronald Reagan to give the Iranians, and their proxies, pause after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. But then Joe Biden freed up all the money Trump sanctioned, pouring gasoline, and rockets, missiles, and drones all over the region, leading to the October 7th holocaust on Israel by Hamas in 2023. 

Now that Donald Trump is back in office, having talked to hostages in which he facilitated their release from the Hamas tunnels, he has seen enough. He gave Hamas an ultimatum to release the remaining hostages immediately, or all hell would break loose. They didn't, and Israel eventually began raining hell down on the Gaza Strip once it became clear the ceasefire was no longer working. 

Hezbollah has been effectively dismantled by Israel. Bashar al-Assad is no longer running Syria, and that country is now a failed state with all sorts of factions vying for control. Last week, the sustained campaign against the Houthis by the United States began in earnest, with the message to Iran being very, very clear. 

Iran has chosen no deal, Howie.  On St. Patrick's Day, Trump seemingly gave Iran one more final warning. 

It's a week later, and Iran has not heeded the warning. They floated video of short and medium-range missiles, presumably underground somewhere, as a tacit warning back to the U.S. to back off. Which brings us back to Diego Garcia. 

… Two carrier task groups have been dispatched to the region. This buildup, especially with the refueling tankers, is not something that indicates whatever is coming is a one-off. This is what you would see if you were planning on being there a while with a plan to rearrange the landscape of a country. The buildup is not for Yemen, because the Houthis are being eradicated pretty efficiently from assets in the Red Sea. 

So why all this firepower in this particular location? There really can be only two explanations, and neither one of them is very good for Iran. One is that Donald Trump is on his last nerve with Khamenei, and has ordered the staging in order to bring the promised hell to them and end this nuisance once and for all. The other is to make Tehran think they're about to be hit, hoping they will blink, roll over, and give up the keys to their nuclear program. 

Iran once was thought to be an ominous proposition to handle, militarily speaking, inside their borders. They have an alliance with Russia and China, and until recently defended their airspace with Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries. Except last October 30th, Israel did us the good favor of destroying those batteries, leaving Iran defenseless from the air. 

The possible targeting, were hell to come visit Iran, could be small, and it could be large, or it could be a mixture. They have lots of oil, but very limited refining capacity. Would be a shame if something happened to their refinery. Their electrical grid is shaky. Would be a pity if the country looked like North Korea at night. Their nuclear program's key ingredients, centrifuges believed to be buried under mountains which would be formidable to most nations, are complicated but not out of reach to U.S. bunker busters that can be used as pile drivers of destruction with successive drops in the same location. 

I’m not sure how much military expertise and analysis the executive producer of the Hugh Hewitt show brings to the party, although he’s got at least as much, and probably more, than the Obama Iran “experts” who ran the desk for 12 of the past 16 years, and he does link to and seems to rely on this article by Alistair Bunkall , Sky News UK’s military correspondent, who does seem to have a pretty good grasp of the situation:

The United States appears to be significantly increasing its military presence in the Middle East with the deployment of highly sophisticated aircraft and a second aircraft carrier to the region.

In recent days, at least five B-2 stealth bombers have deployed to Diego Garcia, a British military base used by the US in the Indian Ocean. More are reportedly en route.

Seven C17 aircraft have also been tracked landing on the remote atoll, suggesting transportation of equipment, personnel and supplies, and refuelling aircraft have been repositioned to strategic locations.

The Pentagon recently ordered the USS Harry S Truman carrier strike group to extend its deployment in the Red Sea by a month, and a second strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, is heading for the Middle East.

Both groups have support ships, including destroyers, as part of the group.

It is an unusual surge in military assets and an indication, perhaps, that the US is planning heavy strikes on the Houthis in Yemen and possibly looking to send a strong message to Iran.

The Houthis, an Islamist group that controls a large part of Yemen, including the capital Sana'a, have repeatedly attacked Red Sea shipping and Israel during the war in Gaza.

Those attacks stopped while the ceasefire was in force but have restarted following a resumption of Israeli military operations in Gaza.

Do we really want to go to war again in the Middle East? I think perhaps not, but if we’re going to do it, at least this time we have a worthwhile target.

Plane Spotters Special

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70 Sherwood Avenue, listed at $4.295 million, has sold for $4,724,528.12 (here’s a case where that open auction feature, discussed earlier this week, could have helped the winning buyer avoid such a silly bid).

The builders who renovated this house back in 2007 tried for $5.775 that year but had to settle for $3.375 in 2010. Those buyers, in turn, sold it to these sellers in 2021 for $3.495 million, and without making any noticable changes or improvements, sold it this week for a handsome profit. Timing is everything.