Groups Work To ID Students Who Face Deportation

March 29, 2025 4:09 am

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations are getting help from private groups that use facial-recognition technology to identify masked protesters. That’s so their names can be turned over to government officials. Other groups have called on supporters at universities to report protesters on their campuses to immigration authorities. After the arrest of a Columbia University grad student, the campaign to identify masked protesters and to turn them in has blurred the line between public law enforcement and private groups. The effort has also stirred anxiety among foreign students worried that activism could jeopardize their legal status.