[antonly]

Speaking as an academic from the UK, there has been a growing sentiment of weariness about spending time in the US. From hallway jokes about getting snatched at the border and spending two weeks in detention camps, to people re-evaluating their conference and career choices to avoid the US, this marks a major shift in the mindset of the current generation of PhD students and early-career academics that will probably have untold implications for long-term research and innovation horizons...

[saagarjha]

Every year I spend some time with PhD students from my alma mater (we play CTFs) and it's always a good opportunity to see how their research is going, or what grants they've been getting, or which conference they're trying to frantically submit to.

They're still doing research, and the funding hasn't completely dried up. But a lot of the people I talked to were international students, and the gallows humor of being deported was palpable. Made a slightly illegal turn in the van? Better make sure the cops didn't see you, or ICE is going to deport you back to where you came from. Hiring is completely frozen, and there is talk of potentially cutting down or "asking" students to graduate early. I overheard one of the professors talking to another about their students who were in limbo because their visas had been cancelled. It's pretty grim.

[foobarbecue]

Did you mean wariness?

[antonly]

Yes, thanks! English isn't my first language, and apparently I missed that there was a distinction between the two.

[foobarbecue]

FWIW, I see native speakers get this one wrong all the time.

[matltc]

Academic

Weariness

[ayhanfuat]

Also see "French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found" (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-f...).

[trhway]

> ...messages discussing the Trump administration’s treatment of scientists had been found. The researcher was reportedly then accused of writings “that reflect hatred toward Trump and can be described as terrorism”.

Everything that doesn't fit official government line is an extremism and terrorism. It has been that way in Russia and other authoritarian countries. Looks like that is getting imported into US, and without any tariffs at that. I'm perplexed though why does the US population want it (i live in CA, and that doesn't help understanding the whole US population), especially giving that any of those authoritarian countries is also orders of magnitude worse than US economy-wise (even the economy poster-child China has per capita GDP just 1/7th of that of US).

[foobarbecue]

> why does the US population want it

The same reason the school bully and his entourage wants see your lunch thrown on the ground. It's jealousy, it's tribalism, it's establishment of a power hierarchy. It's evil.

Our country has been taken over by a cult of cruelty and othering.

[anonfordays]

That was fake news:

  "The French researcher in question was in possession of confidential information on his electronic device from Los Alamos National Laboratory— in violation of a non-disclosure agreement—something he admitted to taking without permission and attempted to conceal.

  Any claim that his removal was based on political beliefs is blatantly false."

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/20/french-researcher-den...

[Timon3]

You're quoting a statement from the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. Given the well-documented history of lies from the current administration, why should we take a statement from a person under their control as fact? It'd be a different thing if such a statement came from the french side, but according to the article you posted they haven't given one.

Let's not forget that the VP literally admitted to creating fake stories to influence public opinion. At this point, any statement by the administration & people under their control should be taken as evidence to the contrary, unless it's corroborated by outside sources.

[anonfordays]

>You're quoting a statement from the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.

Trust the experts.

>Given the well-documented history of lies from the current administration, why should we take a statement from a person under their control as fact?

The past N administrations have well-documented histories of lying.

>Let's not forget that the VP literally admitted to creating fake stories to influence public opinion.

Sounds like exactly what this scientist did.

[ayhanfuat]

It is hard to believe a French researcher, traveling from France to the US, was in possession of confidential information he retrieved from a US national lab. It is harder to believe they didn't arrest him for this.

[anonfordays]

>It is hard to believe a French researcher, traveling from France to the US, was in possession of confidential information he retrieved from a US national lab.

Not at all, it's much more believable than the original story. Traveling scientists frequently work at national labs.

>It is harder to believe they didn't arrest him for this.

Nondisclosure agreements are civil in nature, not criminal.

[jpambrun]

Are civil affairs litigated at the border by custom agents now?

[bdangubic]

yes

[anonfordays]

They always have been, overstaying your visa is an example of a civil violation, placing it in the purvue of ICE. You have less protections/rights afforded to you in civil proceedings versus criminal ones.

[leereeves]

I wonder how many of the media sources who reported the original story will also report the correction with equal coverage.

[anonfordays]

This story has basically evaporated from the public after the correction came out. That should tell you everything you need to know.

[yapyap]

> This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy

So they check all your messages at the border? Do they dump your entire phone or what is happening there?

[pastage]

This has been happening since before 9/11 how much I do not know. I never travel with digital gear to the US. I do not work in any secret capacity but my employer prohibits me from brining any work equipment through the border to the US.

[leereeves]

It happens in other countries too. I've been required to unlock my devices when entering Canada and Europe.

[leereeves]

You should keep in mind that the media isn't unbiased. It's mostly owned by global corporations that want to continue profiting from labor arbitrage, who don't always give us all the details.

For example: the Canadian woman who was detained at the border. Not many people heard that she was working here illegally (self-employed while here under a TN visa that doesn't allow that).

Edit: I call it arbitrage because (oversimplifying) they manufacture a product for one hour of labor in one country and sell it for one hour of labor in a different country. It's only viable because it takes advantage of a difference in wages between the labor markets.