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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

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...

ayhanfuat 1y ago
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-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 ago
    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 1y ago
      It 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.
- anonfordays 1y ago
  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-denied-access-us/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/20/french-researcher-den...
  - leereeves 1y ago
    I wonder how many of the media sources who reported the original story will also report the correction with equal coverage.
    - anonfordays 1y ago
      This story has basically evaporated from the public after the correction came out. That should tell you everything you need to know.
  - ayhanfuat 1y ago
    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 1y ago
      >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 1y ago
admissionsguy 1y ago
[flagged]
- microtonal 1y ago
  Am 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 ago
  Do 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 ago
      I don’t follow. Please elaborate.
      - iugtmkbdfil834 1y ago
        [flagged]
saagarjha 1y ago
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.
tguinot 1y ago
[flagged]
- Jolter 1y ago
  Well, 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 ago
    Sorry 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 ago
      I 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 ago
      As 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 ago
        https://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 ago
Did you mean wariness?
- matltc 1y ago
  Academic Weariness
- antonly 1y ago
  Yes, thanks! English isn't my first language, and apparently I missed that there was a distinction between the two.
  - foobarbecue 1y ago
    FWIW, I see native speakers get this one wrong all the time.
leereeves 1y ago
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.

ayhanfuat 1y ago

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-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 ago
  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 1y ago
    It 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.
anonfordays 1y ago
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-denied-access-us/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/20/french-researcher-den...
- leereeves 1y ago
  I wonder how many of the media sources who reported the original story will also report the correction with equal coverage.
  - anonfordays 1y ago
    This story has basically evaporated from the public after the correction came out. That should tell you everything you need to know.
- ayhanfuat 1y ago
  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 1y ago
    >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 1y ago

admissionsguy 1y ago

[flagged]

microtonal 1y ago
Am 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 ago
Do 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 ago
    I don’t follow. Please elaborate.
    - iugtmkbdfil834 1y ago
      [flagged]

saagarjha 1y ago

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.

tguinot 1y ago

[flagged]

Jolter 1y ago
Well, 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 ago
  Sorry 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 ago
    I 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 ago
    As 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 ago
      https://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 ago

Did you mean wariness?

matltc 1y ago
Academic Weariness
antonly 1y ago
Yes, thanks! English isn't my first language, and apparently I missed that there was a distinction between the two.
- foobarbecue 1y ago
  FWIW, I see native speakers get this one wrong all the time.

leereeves 1y ago

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.