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PhD Timeline
- ackbar03 1y ago[flagged]
- mjburgess 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_R%C3%BCmeysa_%C3%96zt%C3%BCrk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_R%C3%BCmeysa_%C3%... -- for the student mentioned in the caption
- plq 1y agohttps://explainxkcd.com/3081 https://explainxkcd.com/3081
- tunnuz 1y agoHonest.
- antonly 1y agoSpeaking 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...
- ayhanfuat 1y agoAlso see "French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found" (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-f...).
- yapyap 1y ago> 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 1y agoThis 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 1y agoIt happens in other countries too. I've been required to unlock my devices when entering Canada and Europe.
- trhway 1y ago> ...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 1y ago> 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.
- admissionsguy 1y ago[flagged]
- microtonal 1y agoAm I a lone crazy person? Perhaps, perhaps not. Well, at least maybe your moral compass needs some calibration? I typically go out of my way to avoid personal attacks here. But it's hard to do so if the reaction to "people get detained and locked up for more than a month with bad medical care" is: "oh great, no more far left". We not should celebrate a slide into authoritarianism, which always starts with bullying weakly-positioned groups first, but the government has already floated with the idea of deporting Americans (and apparently already deported American kids [1]). [1] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/27/us/children-us-citizens-deported-honduras/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/27/us/children-us-citizens-d...
- Jolter 1y agoDo you actually prefer if people with a different political view than yourself are just… removed? I don’t even know where to start with that. Consider whether you have a broken moral compass or something. Consider moving to an actual dictatorship country instead of supporting the introduction of dictatorship in a new country? Edit: beaten to the “moral compass” thing. Well said, above.
- iugtmkbdfil834 1y ago[flagged]
- Jolter 1y agoI don’t follow. Please elaborate.
- iugtmkbdfil834 1y ago[flagged]
- saagarjha 1y agoEvery 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.
- tguinot 1y ago[flagged]
- Jolter 1y agoWell, two down, then. That leaves about, oh I don’t know, 207 countries with universities. Probably at least a hundred of those are functioning democracies where you can expect rule of law and due process.
- tguinot 1y agoSorry to disappoint you but people in Europe don't have as much free speech as in the US especially in the press. In European countries like France or Switzerland you get sentenced to prison time for describing someone as "a fat lesbian". Free Speech is much better in the US.
- Jolter 1y agoI live in a Northern European country, you don’t have to lecture me about how free speech law works here. It remains a fact that you cannot be deported from most countries (including my home country) for allegedly expressing a particular political opinion, without at least first being put through a legal process to determine that you did in fact express that opinion.
- Jolter 1y agoAs for that particular law you mention in France or Switzerland, please support the claim with at least one example from each country of someone serving prison time over calling someone a “fat lesbian”. I don’t believe it for a minute.
- Slamidan 1y ago[dead]
- tguinot 1y agohttps://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/justice/l-essayiste-franco-suisse-d-extreme-droite-alain-soral-va-purger-une-peine-de-prison-en-suisse_6494459.html https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/justice/l-essayiste-fran... It's a fact, I'm afraid. Disclaimer: I don't even like the guy, he makes money off conspiracy theories about Jewish people. But it's a fact that he got sentenced to prison for saying a journalist is a fat lesbian.
- foobarbecue 1y agoDid you mean wariness?
- matltc 1y agoAcademic Weariness
- antonly 1y agoYes, thanks! English isn't my first language, and apparently I missed that there was a distinction between the two.
- foobarbecue 1y agoFWIW, I see native speakers get this one wrong all the time.
- leereeves 1y agoYou 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.
- echelon 1y agoXkcd hasn't been very political, but this is appropriate. Regardless of your political persuasion, what's happening to folks here legally is doing irreparable harm to our country's image and standing. We need researchers to remain competitive. China is putting out more advanced research in key sectors than we are. Most of the papers in AI that I read are from Chinese institutions. If we think we can compete without immigration, we're going to find ourselves in a world of hurt. And on the topic of free speech that predicated all of this: it's great that we get so offended by what other people say. It's the litmus test for how free our speech really is. Once we start punishing people for free speech, whatever their ideology or party affiliation may be, the same tactics can be used against us when the political tides turn. If you advocate for free speech and then do something like this, then you're not a free speech advocate.
- rollcat 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came
- iugtmkbdfil834 1y agoFirst generation immigrant here so I feel entitled enough to respond. << If we think we can compete without immigration, we're going to find ourselves in a world of hurt. The issue has been gamed well by the political class. It does not help that 'both sides' use language to further confuse the issue and score points with their chosen audiences. That said, why.. or even how, would an American worker compete on salary. That, you will find, is the source of most of the discontent. That the target of that discontent is amusingly misdirected is quite anothe matter altogether and speaks only to the strength of propaganda apparatus in US. << It's the litmus test for how free our speech really is. True. << If you advocate for free speech and then do something like this, then you're not a free speech advocate. Also true.
- ActorNightly 1y ago>Once we start punishing people for free speech, whatever their ideology or party affiliation may be, the same tactics can be used against us when the political tides turn. This is with the underlying ideal that neither side has the right answers. Which was true back in the era of sane politics. Except this doesn't really apply anymore, as we know that one side is objectively stupid, and with the modern age, there is zero to none fact checking or social responsibility. In the same way that there are restrictions to free speech in yelling fire in a crowded movie theater, there absolutely should be restrictions on anything having to do with the popular right talking points, with appropriate jail time, as those fall into the same category now, with people taking Ivermectin for Covid and dying because Joe Rogan told them so. And if the laws are in place, and the wrong party ever takes charge again and uses those laws against you, that should be a motivator to not let that party take hold in the first place.
- pastage 1y agoNationalism is not compatible with freedom. When I was young I thought liberties that we viewed as important were something that was provided to all. That it should not matter where you come from. I still think everyone should strive for this.
- edanm 1y ago> Nationalism is not compatible with freedom. Why?
- 93po 1y agodefinition: > nationalism, ideology based on the premise that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests. if your highest priority is to the concept and ego of your country, rather than how that country serves its population, then your core values align with the interest of the political establishment and machine rather than with the interests of people. a political establishment's growth and maintenance is damaged by a population's ability to impact it, which means it's damaged by democracy, which means it's damaged by freedom.
- bmn__ 1y ago> Nationalism is not compatible with freedom. That's false. The way you phrased this is that I just need one example to debunk, I'll gladly take the easy win. Here it is: https://freedomhouse.org/country/mongolia https://freedomhouse.org/country/mongolia
- pastage 1y agoHaving a strong identity and being proud of it is not the same as nationalism, but I see your point. Definitions are always hard.
- Slamidan 1y ago[dead]
- wesselbindt 1y agoSo at what point does it become acceptable to call a spade and spade and point out that this is fascism?
- theyinwhy 1y agoNow.
- wesselbindt 1y agoNope, not yet, this post dropped three pages in 5 minutes. I guess someone's feefees got hurt.
- yodon 1y ago> Nope, not yet, this post dropped three pages in 5 minutes. I guess someone's feefees got hurt. Please refrain from nonsense HN conspiracy theories. The HN algorithm is and has always been designed to encourage good behavior on the site, favoriting the overall health of discussion on the site over any particular topic and penalizing pages where participants interact poorly. Yes, that means many important topics get automatically downranked because the participants in those topics disagree on the topic strongly enough to engage in upvote/downvote wars and other signals of bad conversational behavior. That is an acknowledged result of the long term algoritm design. HN has been very clear over the years that their primary goal is for people to debate interesting topics well here, and the overall quality of discussion on HN compared to other sites suggests there is some validity to their approach.
- wesselbindt 1y ago[flagged]
- sn9 1y agoIt's on the front page now. Don't confuse a snapshot for a trajectory.
- spellboots 1y agoI worked for US companies for over a decade, and travelled there multiple times a year. I worked remotely from my home in the UK as a software engineer and and CTO, including as CTO of a YC startup for a number of years. I would not travel to the US any longer, it's just not worth the risk. From the outside it's how I imagined Germany looked in the mid 30s, but streamed live in HD. For context I'm a white British man, and whilst I wouldn't go out of solidarity and disgust at the treatment of people who don't look and talk like me even if I wasn't worried about myself, right now I would also be seriously concerned for my own safety. I wouldn't trust rogue ICE agents to know exactly what things are permissible on an ESTA visa waiver vs B1 vs B1 in lieu of H1B. Genuinely and without hyperbole, if you have the ability and means to leave for a different country, you should consider it in case it becomes something you can no longer do in the future; even if you don't believe your government will prevent you, I suspect other countries will start making it a lot more difficult for US citizens to get visas in the coming years.
- apexalpha 1y agoI don't know if Americans are grasping how much the attitude is changing outside of the US. My mom has booked a multithousand dollar vacation on a cruise set to depart from Florida. They would only be there for a few days. They are still asking the company to just fly to the first non-US stop and then board. And crazy enough the company might actually accomodate this since hundreds of people have inquired according the agent she talked to. People really distrust the US government now. As we Dutch say: trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback.
- ekms 1y agoI think the perception of America was just as critical, or even moreso, during the GWB presidencies and iraq war. (I imagine nixon and the vietnam war were thought of similarly). There's a tendency for people to have some historical amnesia and think of trump as qualitatively different somehow. But I can assure you that GWB was truly reviled especially in northern europe metro areas, and Americans was viewed then similarly to how it's viewed now.
- koonsolo 1y agoI'm old enough to know, and no, it's not the same. Bush never claimed that Canada is a US state, never hinted at invading Greenland, never repeated Russian propaganda. We thought the Gulf War 2 was under false pretenses of "Weapons of Mass Destruction", sure. But what Trump is doing is plain betrayal of trust amongst allies.
- disqard 1y agoIt's gaslighting via ye olde "both sides" reasoning: "Oh, don't worry, all the politicians are corrupt liars, so the current administration is just like the preceding ones. Nothing to see here!" Thank you for calling this out!
- insane_dreamer 1y agoYes, it was bad then, but it's even worse now, because of Trump's attitudes towards Europe, desire to annex Greenland, his coziness with Russia, and his hard-core support for Netanyahu and total disregard for the plight of the Palestinians.
- CogitoCogito 1y agoEvery American should feel ashamed by this national idiocy.
- KikoHeit 1y ago[dead]
- insane_dreamer 1y agowe're flagging xkcd now? :(
- sporkland 1y agoEverything is getting flagged that seems anti-currently elected's actions. I tried to raise it here, seems like HN for various reasons is over talking about this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43570025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43570025 I got some useful replies there but it is still hard to conclude something pernicious isn't happening. I wonder if an upvote / flag ratio threshold would stop some of the abusive flagging that is happening.
- spacemadness 1y agoThe fascists on HN are working overtime.
- dira3 1y agoI see HN has gotten to the point where xkcd gets flagged.
- throwaway314155 1y agoIf ever there were a post that should be unflagged...
- UmGuys 1y agoWe're flagging xkcd now? I can't think of more iconic programmer humor. Who doesn't like xkcd?
- beeflet 1y agoI used to like xkcd, but he has made some comics that have had a pretty negative effect on society as a whole. Famously, I think that comic #1357 is a (https://xkcd.com/1357/ https://xkcd.com/1357/) great example of unintended consequences. Most average people think it's unreasonable to get fired from a typical job for supporting a given party so the idea that "free speech isn't free from consequences" doesn't really ring true. Most people seem to believe in a principle of "free speech" that goes beyond "freedom of speech only protects you from the government", you could call it the principle of open discussion or something. This whole idea of "community" moderation in this fashion is inappropriate when the actual moderation is only done by a handful of unaccountable people and executed with an invisible recommendation algorithm. When you get banned by a social media website, that's not the same thing as being kicked out of a bar. Social media websites are funded by advertising companies. The kind of people who use this comic were living in a venture-captial funded web2.0 utopia and did not realize that the town square had been privatized. Reddit, Tumblr, etc. did not see the coming wave of censorship coming in the name of advertiser-friendliness. Twitter users did not realize "It's a private company, they can do whatever they want", goes both ways when their site got bought out by a right wing guy. I also see comics like #538 (https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/) used to justify a total pessimism around cryptography at all. Like "why bother encrypting your hard drive or data when the government can just beat you with a hose". It's not hard to see why this is a terrible argument. xkcd is fine, it's very quotable, it's just that his well of "nerdy humor" has seemed to run dry. Most of his comics are rehashes of old ideas/jokes at this point. And when it comes to politics, xkcd just seems to tow the democratic party line, even when it's disastrous like supporting kamala or hillary.
- prennert 1y agoIncredible to see this play out here and good to see that this got unflagged now. I only saw this earlier (while this submission was still flagged) due to someone somewhere else mention that https://news.ycombinator.com/active https://news.ycombinator.com/active exists. Probably worth keeping an eye on it from time to time to get an idea what did not make the cut for whatever reason. More on topic, I am wondering if this scenario shows that even wide-spread gun-ownership does not protect against state power (lawful or not). If ICE agents would kept getting shot during these type of arrests by people thinking they are about to get abducted by a gang and using their gun in self-defence, ICE would not do it this way. Therefore I am thinking that the agents are confident that just signalling that they represent a US federal (?) agency is enough to prevent bystanders and arrestees (?) from escalating.
- mceachen 1y agoI suspect the intersection of gun-carrying civilians and foreign PhD students is rather small.
- mrguyorama 1y agoIf the government does not need to prove to a judge that you are not a legal citizen BEFORE they have any right to move you, there is no such thing as due process. ANY violation of "innocent until proven guilty" makes the entire concept null and void. ANY bypass of seeing a judge before punishment means anyone can be punished for anything at any time. The Constitution is extremely clear that you cannot harm someone's inalienable rights until you have done due process. You MUST treat any suspect of anything as having all rights enshrined in the Constitution until the state has PROVEN otherwise. If you defend these deportations at all, you are anti-democratic and anti-constitution. The moment you let the ends justify the means, you threw away democracy. Literal serial killers and assassin-wannabees are entitled to all constitutional rights before they have been convicted. The only acceptable option is if everyone is assumed a fully legal resident until you prove otherwise. If you support the deportation of these people because they are gang members, whether that is even true or not, without them getting due process, you are the Bad Guys
- merillecuz56 1y ago[dead]