Private Groups Work To Identify And Report Student Protesters For Possible Deportation

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Huff Post/AP

Mar 29, 2025, 12:36 PM EDT


NEW YORK (AP) — When a protester was caught on video in January at a New York rally against Israel, only her eyes were visible between a mask and headscarf. But days later, photos of her entire face, along with her name and employer, were circulated online. “Months of them hiding their faces went down the drain!” a fledgling technology company boasted in a social media post, claiming its facial-recognition tool had identified the woman despite the coverings.

She was anything but a lone target. The same software was also used to review images taken during months of pro-Palestinian marches at U.S. colleges. A right-wing Jewish group said some people identified with the tool were on a list of names it submitted to President Donald Trump’s administration, urging that they be deported in accordance with his call for the expulsion of foreign students who participated in “pro-jihadist” protests.

Other pro-Israel groups have enlisted help from supporters on campuses, urging them to report foreign students who participated in protests against the war in Gaza to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. The push to identify masked protesters using facial recognition and turn them in is blurring the line between public law enforcement and private groups. And the efforts have stirred anxiety among foreign students worried that activism could jeopardize their legal status.

“It’s a very concerning practice. We don’t know who these individuals are or what they’re doing with this information,” said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “Essentially the administration is outsourcing surveillance.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/private-groups-identify-report-student-protesters-possible-deportation_n_67e81e05e4b051cf99eab086

[yourout]

1. Does anyone not study history at all and realize how much this resembles Nazi Germany in the late '30s?

[bluestarone]

2. 100%

[atreides1]

3. One thing is different

The "Nazis" are getting helped by pro-Israel and Jewish groups!

Which goes to show that even Jewish people will help Nazis!

[Shipwack]

11. Alas, History doesn't always repeat itself.

Sometimes she smacks you upside your head and screams, "Weren't you listening the FIRST time?"

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Sounds like they (those ID'ing those students who fall into this category) need to ID those that are inputting names

into this process, pay them back in kind too. Watch and see them get deported and see how they like it.

[mymomwasright]

5. If nothing else, it puts a spotlight on them.

Dox the doxers.

[SeattleVet]

6. Now someone should also be able to ID the masked kidnappers and neo-nazi 'Patriot Front' idiots, too!

Reich-wing assholes seem to like wearing masks, but only when it's an attempt to hide their identity. To the 'police' in plain clothes with masks obscuring your faces - perhaps the public really DOES have a right to know who's taking these people off the streets and shipping them off to various destinations.

We now know that the tech exists to figure out who they are based on the smallest portion of their ugly mugs being exposed. Turnabout is fair play.

[turbinetree]

7. So are they going to use this software this upcoming April 5th

tell me when to smile.............since there still the First and Fourth and 5th amendments.......

[Prairie Gates]

8. Rarely have a group of people so thoroughly dishonored their ancestors

In this case, for many of them, it's even their parents and grandparents.

[iemanja]

9. Trump is also deporting students sympathetic to the Ukraine

Do these Jewish people actually think this is going to help them. Don't they realize they will be on the list before long? Collaborating with fascists is not good for anyone.

[Beastly Boy]

10. I doubt that anyone engaging in a public activity has a right to privacy.

Government employment records, court records, municipal records and scores of other information are public as well.

Personally, I find doxxing a deplorable practice. Having said that, it's an ethical judgement, not a legal one, and it is not limited to anti-Israel left-wing groups vs pro-Israel right wing groups. Not by a mile.

Most of it goes on behind the scenes, and I doubt ICE needs any help with it from fringe amateur groups claiming access to superior technology.

[Skittles]

12. WTF happened to free speech?

fuck these NAZIS