Por JAKE OFFENHARTZ La promesa del presidente Donald Trump de poner fin a las protecciones legales temporales para los somalíes que viven en Minnesota ha desatado una ola de temor en una comunidad inmigrante sumamente arraigada en el estado, así como dudas sobre si la Casa Blanca tiene la autoridad legal para promulgar la directiva tal como se describe. El mandatario publicó la noche del viernes en su plataforma de redes sociales Truth Social que a los residentes somalíes de Minnesota se les retiraría “de inmediato” el Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS por sus iniciales en inglés), una salvaguarda legal contra la deportación para inmigrantes de ciertos países. El anuncio provocó una respuesta inmediata de algunos líderes estatales y expertos en inmigración, quienes se refirieron a las amenazas de Trump como un intento sin muchos fundamentos legales para sembrar miedo y sospecha hacia la comunidad somalí de Minnesota, la más grande del país. “No hay un mecanismo legal que le permita al presidente poner fin al estatus de protección para una comunidad o estado en particular con el que tenga problemas”, aseguró Heidi Altman, directora de políticas del National Immigrant Justice Center. “Trump está haciendo lo que siempre hace: demagogia contra los inmigrantes sin justificación ni evidencia y usar esa demagogia en un intento por retirar importantes protecciones que salvan vidas”, agregó. La protección para los somalíes ha sido extendida 27 veces desde 1991, después de que las autoridades estadounidenses han determinado que las condiciones en Somalia no son lo suficientemente seguras para que las personas que ya se encuentran en Estados Unidos puedan regresar a ese país. Sin embargo, el gobierno de Trump podría tomar medidas para retirar las protecciones legales para los somalíes a nivel nacional. Pero eso afectaría sólo a una pequeña fracción de las decenas de miles de somalíes que viven en Minnesota. Según un informe elaborado para el Congreso en agosto pasado, únicamente hay 705 somalíes al amparo del TPS a nivel nacional “Soy ciudadana, al igual que la mayoría de los somalíes en Estados Unidos”, señaló la representante por Minnesota Ilhan Omar, una demócrata de origen somalí. “Buena suerte celebrando un cambio de política que realmente no tiene mucho impacto en los somalíes a los que amas odiar”. Aún así, grupos activistas advirtieron que la medida podría avivar el odio contra una comunidad en un momento de creciente islamofobia. “Esto no es sólo un cambio burocrático”, dijo Jaylani Hussein, presidente del Council on American-Islamic Relations para su oficina en Minnesota. “Es un ataque político a la comunidad somalí y musulmana impulsado por una retórica islamofóbica y de odio”. En su publicación en redes sociales, Trump afirmó, sin ofrecer evidencia, que las pandillas somalíes han atacado a los residentes de Minnesota y se refirió al estado como un “centro de actividad fraudulenta para el lavado de dinero”. Fiscales federales han presentado cargos en las últimas semanas contra decenas de personas que forman parte de un plan de fraude de servicios sociales. Algunos de los acusados son originarios de Somalia. El gobernador de Minnesota, el demócrata Tim Walz, ha señalado que su estado se ubica consistentemente entre los más seguros del país. “No es de sorprender que el presidente haya elegido atacar de manera generalizada a toda una comunidad”, señaló Waltz el viernes. “Esto es lo que hace para cambiar de tema”. Activistas comunitarios destacan que la diáspora somalí en Minnesota ha ayudado a revitalizar los corredores del centro de Minneapolis y juega un importante papel en la política del estado. “La verdad es que la comunidad somalí es querida y está profundamente entrelazada en muchos de los vecindarios y comunidades de Minnesota”, subrayó Altman. “Desestabilizar a familias y comunidades nos deja a todos menos seguros, no más”. Como parte de un impulso más amplio por adoptar políticas de inmigración más estrictas, la Casa Blanca ha tomado medidas para retirar varias protecciones que les habían permitido a los inmigrantes permanecer en Estados Unidos y trabajar legalmente. Entre ellas se incluye el fin del TPS para 600. 000 venezolanos y 500. 000 haitianos que recibieron protecciones durante la presidencia de Joe Biden. ___ Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/22/trump-promete-fin-de-inmediato-a-tps-para-somales-en-minnesota-desatando-temor-y-dudas-legales/
Tag: american-islamic
Gov. Abbott Designates CAIR a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Gov. Greg Abbott released a proclamation today identifying the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations in the state of Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott is designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. The designation authorizes “heightened enforcement” against both organizations and their affiliates and prohibits them from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas, according to Abbott’s office. Abbott’s move comes as he has increasingly spoken out against Muslim groups amid his run for a record fourth term. Muslim advocates say he is amplifying Islamophobic rhetoric that they fear could lead to violence against Muslim communities. Abbott released a statement about the proclamation: “The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” said Governor Abbott. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.” The proclamation itself can be viewed here. It includes a list of people CAIR has “employed, affiliated with, and supported” who promoted “terrorism-related activiites.” The last person on the list is Nihad Awad, the group’s current president. The proclamation says he “praised and supported Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.” Did Awad do that? Yes, he did. In fact, the Biden White House disavowed CAIR after Awad’s comments. The White House disavowed an American-Islamic advocacy organization on Thursday after the group’s director declared that he “was happy to see” Palestinians break out of Gaza on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1, 200 people and led to the seizure of 240 others as hostages. A spokesman for President Biden condemned the remarks by Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who declared in a speech that Palestinians in Gaza “have the right to self-defense” but that Israel “as an occupying power” does not. Mr. Awad said his comments were being misconstrued. “We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms,” said Mr. Biden’s spokesman, Andrew Bates.“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on Oct. 7,” he said. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their land that they were not allowed to walk in. “And yes,” he continued, “the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense.” Video of his statement is here. It seems pretty clear to me he’s saying that the land of Israel belongs to the Palestinians and Israel has no right to defend itself. After the speech circulated, Awad claimed he was misunderstood and that he was only referring to Palestinians who wandered into Israel while the attack was taking place, not to Hamas. In any case, CAIR just released a statement reacting to the proclamation by Gov. Abbott. Greg Abbott is an Israel First politician who has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government. Although we are flattered by his obsession with our civil rights group, his defamatory proclamation has no basis in fact or law. Unlike Mr. Abbott–who unleashed violence against Texas students protesting the Gaza genocide to satisfy his AIPAC donors–our civil rights organization is an independent voice that answers to the American people, relies on support from the American people, and opposes all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism. CAIR has successfully sued @GregAbbott_TX three different times for shredding the First Amendment to benefit the Israeli government, and we are ready to sue him again if he attempts to turn this publicity stunt into real policy. See you in court again, Greg. if you dare. On the federal level, neither group has been designated an FTO, but a bill was recently introduced to target the Muslim Brotherhood. In July, Florida Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, a Republican, and Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, co-chairs of the Friends of Egypt Caucus, reintroduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025, aimed at designating the global Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. The U. S. government has not designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization as a whole, citing the group’s diffuse structure and political activities across different countries. I wanted to include some reactions to the proclamation from X, unfortunately X is not behaving well this morning and won’t let me embed any tweets at the moment. Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Hot Air’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/11/18/gov-abbott-designates-cair-a-foreign-terrorist-organization-n3809024
Pro-Palestinian students sue over Northwestern’s mandatory antisemitism training
A pro-Palestinian graduate student group has sued Northwestern University, claiming the school’s mandatory antisemitism training is discriminatory and violates the free speech rights of Arab students, new court papers reveal.
The university began enforcing the training modules, ironically named “Building a Community of Respect and Breaking Down Bias,” in February—months after heated campus anti-Israel demonstrations, according to the lawsuit.
The Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine alleges the training uses such a broad definition of antisemitism that it limits political discourse and free speech, labeling them as anti-Jewish. “Northwestern equates criticism of political practices and ideologies with discrimination against Jews themselves,” the complaint filed Wednesday in Illinois federal court states.
The lawsuit, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on behalf of the student group, seeks to have the training ruled unlawful and eliminated altogether. Plaintiffs also want to remove the disciplinary policy punishing students who do not complete the required training. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
According to court documents, Evanston-based university policy is discriminatory against Palestinian and Arab students by barring them from discussing their national aspirations or protesting alleged mistreatment of their people. The suit charges that Northwestern won’t allow students to oppose a video “dehumanizing Arabs in the process.”
The video, produced by the Jewish United Fund, reportedly includes quotes from Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke interspersed with statements from anti-Israel protesters to suggest “you can’t tell the difference” between the comments, according to a report by the Washington Free Beacon.
The lawsuit alleges the university brands Arab and Palestinian students’ ethnic and religious identities, cultures, and advocacy for their national group’s rights as antisemitic and subject to discipline.
For example, students have been threatened with losing their enrollment or employment status if they do not watch the videos and acknowledge the policies by set deadlines—either by Monday or February 2, 2026, depending on their registration date. “Several members of Grad Workers for Palestine will lose their student status and employment if they do not complete the training,” the filing notes.
At least 300 students have reportedly been blocked from registering for classes because they refused to watch the training video, The Guardian reported last month.
One Ph.D. candidate, Laura Jaliff, told the Evanston Round Table earlier this month that she declined the training because she believed it to be discriminatory. “The number of students who are refusing to take the training on the grounds that it contains damaging political propaganda that has no place in our workplace will inevitably grow,” Jaliff warned.
Students and faculty have widely opposed the training course, arguing the video is “discriminatory and not scholarly,” but the university has not altered its stance, the lawsuit states.
The university’s policy was enacted following anti-Israel protests in April and May 2024, during which students set up encampments on campus. Counter-demonstrators allegedly stole and destroyed property, spat on students, screamed at them, and called Jewish participants “fake Jews,” the suit claims.
One person reportedly told a Jewish student, “You are lucky you are here; if you were in Israel, I’d just shoot you like an animal,” the complaint adds.
Instead of addressing the threats, campus police allegedly cracked down on the pro-Palestinian encampments “with excessive and unreasonable force,” also filing criminal complaints against demonstrators. The Cook County State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the four people arrested, the suit notes.
Anti-Israel protesters allegedly vandalized a campus building housing the Holocaust center by scrawling “Death to Israel” and “Intifada Now” on its walls, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Protesters reportedly screamed insults like “dirty Jew” and “Zionist pig” at passing students, the Forward reported.
Former Northwestern president Michael Schill was criticized for his alleged negligence in handling antisemitism on campus and was questioned by a U.S. House committee over the unrest. He resigned last month.
In April, the Trump administration froze $790 million in federal grants and contracts to Northwestern, The Evanston Round Table reported.
Michael Teplitsky, president of the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern, called the lawsuit “absurd” in a statement to the Free Beacon. “The idea that an antisemitism training could somehow threaten anyone’s civil rights is absurd,” Teplitsky said. “Northwestern worked with JUF [Jewish United Fund] to create a student program aimed at inclusion and understanding—exactly what universities are supposed to do.”
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers New York Representative Elise Stefanik and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton last week called on the Trump administration to investigate CAIR’s sources of funding, including “potential ties” to Hamas.
Northwestern University declined to comment on the pending litigation.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/20/us-news/students-sue-over-northwesterns-antisemitism-training/