Catch and Revoke: Trump and Rubio take the war on liberty up a notch

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Donald Trump Marco Rubio Catch and Revoke Constitution liberty tyranny

Catch and Revoke: Trump and Rubio take the war on liberty up a notch

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio are taking the war on liberty up a notch with the release of plan known as “Catch and Revoke,” a program that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to spy on the social media accounts of foreign student visa holders without a warrant and in violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee of Due Process.

Of course, this is all being done in the spirit of similar post-9/11 programs and legislation designed to provide “safety.” The reality, however, is that they continue the constant erosion of our God-given, constitutionally protected rights (via Axios):

The State Department is planning to review foreign student visa holders’ social media accounts with artificial intelligence (AI) to determine if these pupils have displayed sympathy for Hamas. Officials from the department disclosed the new program to Axios, revealing that the ‘Catch and Revoke’ plan is hunting for students who have been supportive of the group following their October 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel.

Why it matters: The effort — which includes AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders’ social media accounts — marks a dramatic escalation in the U.S. government’s policing of foreign nationals’ conduct and speech.

The reviews of social media accounts are particularly looking for evidence of alleged terrorist sympathies expressed after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, officials say.

The big picture: The cumulative effect of Trump’s executive orders is already having a chilling effect on student visa-holders. They’re starting to shy away from protests critical of Israel.

“This should concern all Americans. This is a First Amendment and freedom of speech issue and the administration will overplay its hand,” said Abed Ayoub, head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

“Americans won’t like this. They’ll view this as capitulating free speech rights for a foreign nation.” (Emphasis mine)

Let me make one thing crystal clear for all those folks out there who will come back with accusations that I am supporting the leftist approach concerning terrorists and immigration: I absolutely support taking steps to deal with this very real problem. What I’m against, however, is the unconstitutional approach being taken by Trump and his Republican flunkies.

Just like the PATRIOT Act and other post-9/11 liberty-killing laws, Catch and Revoke violates key parts of the Bill of Rights, such as:

  • Freedom of Speech (First Amendment)
  • Freedom of Assembly (First Amendment)
  • Freedom to Criticize Government (First Amendment)
  • Right to Due Process (Fifth Amendment)
  • Protection against Unreasonable Search and Seizure (Fourth Amendment)

Marco Rubio’s involvement with Catch and Release is merely a continuation of his willingness to provide a little safety at the expense of a lot of liberty.

For example, Rubio teamed up with then-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) in 2019 to co-sponsor anti-gun legislation known as the Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019 (TAPS Act). If it had become law, Rubio’s TAPS Act would have required law enforcement to give EVERYONE a personal threat assessment (adults and children) and single out those they deemed as future threats. That information would then be used to “stop dangerous individuals before they can commit an act of violence.”

“We have the expertise to implement systems to identify and stop dangerous individuals before they commit an act of violence, but we have yet to fully and effectively develop and utilize it to prevent future attacks,” Sen. Rubio said in press conference at the time. “By bringing threat assessment experts together and utilizing evidence-based behavioral threat assessment and management processes, this bill will help equip our communities with the tools they need to prevent future tragedies.”

Rubio aside, we should remember that Donald Trump and the Republican Party like to use the PATRIOT Act system as the basis for pursuing a boatload of liberty-killing legislation. Here’s are just a few examples (there are many more):

Unfortunately, in true bipartisan fashion, these Republican efforts were used by Joe Biden and the Democrats to expand government power in the areas of IRS tax enforcement and banning TicTok. They also relied on the work done by Republicans to begin the use of “keyword warrants” to spy on our internet use.

Donald Trump’s assault on liberty and the Constitution is a long-established reality, and Marco Rubio has been a vacillating coward worthy of being enshrined in my Gutless On Principles Hall of Shame. Together, they and their Catch and Revoke program will bring further destruction of our God-given, constitutionally protected rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness . . . unless we stop them.

 

David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative and the author of The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.

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