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Newsweek
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
FBI Warns Of Scam Targeting Student Visa Holders In US
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The FBI is warning the public about a fraud scheme targeting foreign students living in the United States on valid student visas. Scammers have targeted students from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan so far, the FBI said in a public service announcement on Tuesday. The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, on March 10, 2025. The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, on March 10, 2025. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images The Context The alert comes as President Donald Trump is on a trip to the Middle East, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. In the past month, the Trump administration stripped about 5,000 foreign students of their legal status in the U.S. as part of a crackdown on those involved in campus protests and pro-Palestinian activism, putting them at risk of deportation. But as court challenges mounted, the administration said it was restoring the previously terminated legal statuses of students while developing a framework to guide future action. In late April, the federal government said it was expanding the reasons international students can be stripped of their legal status in the U.S. What To Know The scheme involves scammers contacting foreign students studying in the U.S. or those in the process of coming to the U.S. and impersonating government or immigration officials "claiming the student is out of status for violations of F-1 student visa requirements or otherwise facing immigration issues," the FBI said. "Victims are threatened with prosecution or deportation and asked to pay an unknown entity or bank account to process immigration paperwork, pay university registration fees, or pay a legal fee." Sometimes, scammers will claim to be agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the FBI said. "In some instances, the scammers vary this scheme by presenting themselves as government officials from foreign countries," the FBI said. Diplomats from the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C, have been impersonated, according to the bureau. To add credibility to the scam, scammers will spoof officials phone numbers, speak professionally and useaccents that match the caller's claimed origin, the FBI said. The FBI warned students to be wary of unsolicited communication from someone purporting to be from the government, especially by phone. The bureau said students should verify they are speaking to a government official by hanging up and contacting the agency through a number obtained through a third party and asking for the agent or department they were speaking with. They are also warned against providing any information without verifying the identity of the caller, providing two-factor authentication codes used to log-in to accounts or devices or downloading files to their phone or computer without verifying the source. What People Are Saying The FBI said: "Scammers have also used fictitious names that sound like government agencies, impersonate US universities, and send links to fake websites. Scammers may spoof the phone number of government agencies, foreign embassies, or universities. They may speak professionally and use the accents and/or language matching the purported location of the callers." What's Next The FBI is asking anyone who believes they may have been targeted to report it at and include as much information as possible. They also gather all relevant documentation and notify their home country's embassy and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Anyone who has made a payment should contact their bank immediately to attempt to reverse any fraudulent wire transfers.
Boston Globe
10-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Today in History: May 10, golden spike completes transcontinental railway
In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces near Irwinville, Ga. Advertisement In 1869, a golden spike was driven in a ceremony in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI) by President Calvin Coolidge; Hoover would serve as FBI director until 1972. In 1933, book burnings were held in 34 cities across Germany, targeting authors whose ideologies were in conflict with Nazism. In 1940, during World War II, German forces began invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France. On the same day, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government. In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated, becoming the first Black president of South Africa. Advertisement In 1994, the state of Illinois executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys. In 2014, Michael Sam was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the NFL draft, becoming the first openly gay player drafted by a National Football League team. In 2023, Representative George Santos, the New York Republican infamous for fabricating his life story, was indicted on charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign, and lied to Congress. (Santos pled guilty in August 2024, and was sentenced to 87 months in prison in April 2025.)
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - America's federal constitutional rights need a major fix
There is an inequity in the enforcement of individual federal constitutional rights in the U.S. that should be rectified. If a person's constitutional rights are violated by local or state government actors, a federal statute, 42 U.S.C. 1983, allows them to sue to recover damages for the harm suffered. However, there is no analogous federal statute providing damages against federal actors who violate their constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has made clear in a series of decisions that, absent such a statute, there is no recourse to recover damages against federal actors, no matter how serious the violation of federal constitutional rights. The resulting inequity is stark: People whose federal constitutional rights are violated by government actors have much more robust judicial remedies against local and state government actors than they have against federal government actors. This inequity is rooted in the federal government's efforts to address the adverse legal effects of slavery during the Reconstruction period. Within six years after the Civil War ended in 1865, three important amendments to the U.S. Constitution were ratified — to abolish slavery (13th Amendment), to guarantee formerly enslaved persons both due process and equal protection of the laws (14th Amendment) and to provide the right to vote to formerly enslaved men (15th Amendment). In 1871, 42 U.S.C. 1983 was also enacted, creating a claim in court allowing a person whose federal constitutional rights are violated by state or local government actors to sue them for damages. This new federal statute was focused on local and state government actors who violate federal constitutional rights, rather than federal government actors, because it was state and local governments who had previously enforced slavery in the South, and who were still violating the newly established constitutional rights of the formerly enslaved persons. In the Reconstruction period, the former Confederate states and their local governments resisted legal equality for the newly freed persons, while the federal government was considered to be the creator and enforcer of the new constitutional rights for these same persons. After the Reconstruction Period, we have learned that federal governmental actors can and do violate the federal constitutional rights of Americans. For example, it is now well known that J. Edgar Hoover's Federal Bureau of Investigation violated the federal constitutional rights of some Americans in exercising its law enforcement functions, including its efforts to disrupt the civil rights advocacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the current period, President Donald Trump's executive orders and policies have generated an unprecedented volume of litigation asserting that federal actors have violated the federal constitutional rights of many Americans. Current and former federal employees, immigrants who are lawful residents of the country, universities and their students and lawyers and their law firms are asserting in American courts that their federal constitutional rights have been violated by the enforcement of these presidential orders and policies. However, even if such violations are proven, the courts cannot award damages (with a few limited exceptions) against the federal government actors who commit them. Simple justice demands that any person whose constitutional rights are violated by government actors should be able to recover damages for the harm they suffer, regardless of whether the government actors are federal, local or state. Individual constitutional rights are diminished if violations of them cannot be fully vindicated in American courts. The solution to the current inequity is straightforward. A federal law should be enacted or 42 U.S.C. 1983 should be amended to create a right for every person whose federal constitutional rights are violated by federal actors to recover damages for the harm that they suffer. If such a law were enacted, then all Americans whose federal constitutional rights are violated by government actors would have the same judicial remedies available to them to vindicate the violation of these important rights. Henry Rose is the Curt and Linda Rodin Professor of Law and Social Justice at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
17-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
America's federal constitutional rights need a major fix
There is an inequity in the enforcement of individual federal constitutional rights in the United States that should be rectified. If a person's constitutional rights are violated by local or state government actors, a federal statute, 42 U.S.C. 1983, allows them to sue to recover damages for the harm suffered. However, there is no analogous federal statute providing damages against federal actors who violate their constitutional rights. The United States Supreme Court has made clear in a series of decisions that, absent such a statute, there is no recourse to recover damages against federal actors, no matter how serious the violation of federal constitutional rights. The inequity created is stark: People whose federal constitutional rights are violated by government actors have much more robust judicial remedies against local and state government actors than they have against federal government actors. This inequity is rooted in the federal government's efforts to address the adverse legal effects of slavery during the Reconstruction period. Within six years after the Civil War ended in 1865, three important amendments to the United States Constitution were ratified to: abolish slavery — (13th Amendment) — guarantee the formerly enslaved persons both due process and equal protection of the laws — 14th Amendment — and provide the right to vote to formerly enslaved males — 15th Amendment. In 1871, 42 U.S.C. 1983 was also enacted, creating a claim in court allowing a person whose federal constitutional rights are violated by state or local government actors to sue them for damages. This new federal statute was focused on local and state government actors who violate federal constitutional rights, rather than federal government actors, because it was state and local governments who had previously enforced slavery in the South, and who were still violating the newly established constitutional rights of the formerly enslaved persons. In the Reconstruction period, the former Confederate states and their local governments resisted legal equality for the newly freed persons, while the federal government was considered to be the creator and enforcer of the new constitutional rights for these same persons. After the Reconstruction Period, we have learned that federal governmental actors can and do violate the federal constitutional rights of Americans. For example, it is now well known that J. Edgar Hoover's Federal Bureau of Investigation violated the federal constitutional rights of some Americans in exercising its law enforcement functions, including its efforts to disrupt the civil rights advocacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the current period, President Donald Trump's executive orders and policies have generated an unprecedented volume of litigation asserting that federal actors have violated the federal constitutional rights of many Americans. Current and former federal employees, immigrants who are lawful residents of the country, universities and their students and lawyers and their law firms are asserting in American courts that their federal constitutional rights have been violated by the enforcement of these presidential orders and policies. However, even if such violations are proven, the courts cannot award damages (with a few limited exceptions) against the federal government actors who commit them. Simple justice demands that any person whose constitutional rights are violated by government actors should be able to recover damages for the harm they suffer, regardless of whether the government actors are federal, local or state. Individual constitutional rights are diminished if violations of them cannot be fully vindicated in American courts. The solution to the current inequity is straightforward. A federal law should be enacted or 42 U.S.C. 1983 should be amended to create a right for every person whose federal constitutional rights are violated by federal actors to recover damages for the harm that they suffer. If this addition to federal law were enacted, then all Americans whose federal constitutional rights are violated by government actors would have the same judicial remedies available to them to vindicate the violation of these important rights.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
FBI marks milestone of their 'Ten Most Wanted Fugitives' list
LEXINGTON, S.C. (WSAV) — Friday, the FBI marked the creation of their 'Ten Most Wanted Fugitives' list. Seventy-five years ago, this initiative was designed to publicize dangerous fugitives and enlist the public's help locating them. The 'Ten Most Wanted Fugitives' list was borne from a newspaper story in late 1949. A reporter for the International News Service asked the FBI for the names and descriptions of the 'toughest guys' the FBI would like to capture. The story had such widespread appeal that on March 14, 1950, former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover implemented the 'Ten Most Wanted Fugitives' program. Since then, 496 fugitives have been apprehended or located. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
