标签： North America

The Trump administration has formally announced final plans to roll out sweeping new restrictions on international students studying in the United States, a policy shift that marks one of the most significant overhauls to the country’s student visa system in decades. Among the most impactful changes is a hard four-year limit on stays for most foreign students, with extensions only available through explicit federal government approval, a power previously held by accredited U.S. higher education institutions themselves. The new rules also curtail international students’ ability to switch academic programs or transfer between postsecondary institutions, and cut the post-graduation grace period for departing the country or switching to an alternative visa category in half, from 60 days to just 30.

Previously, international students holding F-1 student visas and J-1 exchange visas were granted entry under the “duration of status” framework, which allowed them to remain in the U.S. for as long as they needed to make satisfactory progress toward completing their academic degree, regardless of how long that process took. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) framed the new regulations, set to take effect this coming September, as a targeted measure to crack down on widespread misuse of the student visa system and bolster national security through routine, repeated vetting of international enrollees.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the policy in public remarks, arguing that decades of open-ended admissions for foreign students have created loopholes that thousands of people exploit to remain in the U.S. indefinitely by continuously enrolling in low-credit courses to avoid deportation. But critics of the new rules point to a key structural reality of U.S. higher education: while most undergraduate programs are completed within four years, the majority of international students in the U.S. are enrolled in graduate programs, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Doctoral and advanced research degrees often require five to seven years of study to complete, as students navigate lengthy research projects, publication timelines, and unexpected delays ranging from research funding gaps to personal circumstances that extend their time to degree completion.

The policy has drawn sharp pushback from leading higher education and international education advocacy groups, who argue the restrictions are both poorly conceived and unnecessary. NAFSA: Association of International Educators, a leading non-profit that supports institutions with international student enrollment processes and policy guidance, has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the plan. NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw said the new regulations inject unnecessary uncertainty, layers of unneeded bureaucracy, and widespread fear into a student visa system that has operated effectively for decades. She characterized the changes as a “solution in search of a problem,” arguing there is no widespread crisis of visa abuse that justifies upending the existing framework.

The new visa rules are not an isolated policy change, but rather part of a broader, coordinated agenda by the Trump administration to cut overall immigration levels to the U.S. and reduce the total number of international students enrolled at American institutions of higher education. In recent months, the administration has already moved to impose enrollment caps on international students at a number of elite U.S. colleges and universities, and has taken steps to revoke the visas of international students who have publicly expressed criticism of U.S. foreign policy.

A political controversy has emerged at the White House after a senior teleprompter operator was placed on unpaid leave amid allegations that they exploited confidential advance information about former President Donald Trump’s public speeches to place profitable bets, netting nearly $100,000 in illegal gains. The unidentified staffer, whose role gave them exclusive early access to the full text and timing of remarks Trump was set to deliver at public events and campaign appearances, is now the subject of an internal White House probe alongside preliminary law enforcement inquiries into the potential securities or gambling violations connected to the scheme.

Sources familiar with the case confirm that the allegations center on betting markets tied to specific phrases and policy announcements Trump would include in his speeches, a niche but active area of speculative trading that allows actors with inside knowledge to lock in guaranteed profits. Prior to this incident, the White House has maintained strict internal policies barring staff from using non-public information gained through their official roles for personal financial gain, a standard ethics rule designed to preserve public trust in the executive branch.

As of the latest updates, no formal charges have been filed against the staffer, and the investigation remains in its early stages. The White House has declined to release additional details about the staffer’s identity or the full scope of the probe to avoid compromising ongoing investigative work.

A former White House teleprompter technician is at the center of a federal investigation after being accused of exploiting confidential access to President Donald Trump’s prepared speeches to place illegal insider bets that netted nearly $100,000 in potential profits, multiple major U.S. news outlets have confirmed.

Gabriel Perez, who had served on the White House staff since Trump first took office in 2016, allegedly placed wagers on Kalshi, a digital prediction marketplace that allows users to bet on the outcome of real-world events, including specific word choices in high-profile political addresses. The scheme focused on major public remarks from the president, most notably the annual State of the Union address, where Perez used his advance knowledge of the speech’s text to bet that specific pre-selected terms would appear in the address.

In an official statement shared with the BBC, Kalshi representatives confirmed that their internal risk team first flagged suspicious activity in March, when analysts identified irregular patterns in betting on the platform’s so-called “mention markets” — contract listings that let users predict whether a public speaker will reference specific topics, countries, economic phrases or campaign slogans during a given address.

“The words of top political leaders, from presidents to Federal Reserve chairs, can move billions of dollars across foreign exchange markets, oil futures and global stock markets,” Kalshi noted in its comment, underscoring the inherent risk of insider activity on prediction contracts tied to public policy remarks.

After cross-referencing account details and user information, the company confirmed that the account linked to the suspicious trades belonged to Perez, a federal employee responsible for drafting and operating the president’s teleprompters. Acting quickly to block potential illicit gains, Kalshi froze the account before Perez could withdraw more than $90,000 in accumulated profits.

Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, confirmed the firm immediately reported the suspicious activity to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulator that oversees prediction market platforms operating in the United States, and turned over all collected evidence to investigators.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that President Trump had been briefed on the allegations against Perez. She stated that Perez has been placed on unpaid leave and will no longer serve on the White House staff, ending his tenure that began in 2016.

The investigation was first reported by ABC News, and the BBC’s U.S. news partner CBS News later independently confirmed key details of the case. Sources close to the probe told reporters that Perez has been fully cooperative with CFTC investigators throughout the inquiry. As of this report, federal prosecutors in Manhattan have declined to open a criminal investigation into the matter. When reached for comment by the BBC to confirm the ongoing probe, a CFTC spokesperson said the agency could not “confirm or deny” the existence of any ongoing investigation.

A fatal shooting of a 52-year-old Mexican man by U.S. federal immigration agents in Texas has sparked widespread public demands for transparency, prompting state officials to launch an independent investigation into the incident that has reignited national debates over immigration enforcement tactics.

Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the Texas Rangers, the state’s elite law enforcement unit, will partner with federal investigators to uncover the full circumstances surrounding the July 7 shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a resident of nearly 35 years who was en route to his job when agents pulled him over. Speaking to reporters, Abbott emphasized that effective border control and immigration enforcement do not require the use of lethal force.

“It is fully possible to enforce immigration laws and stem the flow of unauthorized crossing at our southern border without resorting to shooting people,” Abbott stated.

Initial details released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have already shifted and drawn sharp pushback from Salgado Araujo’s family and local elected officials. ICE first claimed agents opened fire in self-defense after Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle” against officers. The Department of Homeland Security later corrected the account, confirming Salgado Araujo was never the intended target of the operation – agents stopped his white van simply because he matched the general description of the planned suspect.

Critical gaps in official documentation have further fueled calls for an outside probe. Representative Silvia Garcia, the Democratic congresswoman representing the Houston-area district where the shooting occurred, confirmed that none of the ICE agents involved were wearing body cameras during the stop, and no publicly available video footage of the shooting has emerged to date.

For the Salgado Araujo family, the official narrative does not align with what they know of the father of three, who had been in the process of securing legal permanent residency before his death. Ronaldo Salgado, one of his sons, told reporters he first learned of the shooting from graphic social media footage of the aftermath, identifying his father by his desperate cries for help as he lay wounded on the street, rather than by his physical appearance. He received confirmation of his father’s death from subsequent news reports. Three companions who were traveling with Salgado Araujo, including his uncle, were taken into immigration custody immediately following the shooting, the family confirmed.

This incident is not the first time ICE’s use of force accounts have been called into question amid former President Donald Trump’s hardline crackdown on unauthorized immigration. Earlier this year, the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by ICE agents saw official agency claims contradicted by eyewitness testimony and existing video evidence.

Federal authorities have already launched internal probes: the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, the agency’s internal watchdog, is leading an internal review, while the FBI’s Houston division is investigating potential assault claims against the involved officers. But local leaders have rejected internal federal investigations as insufficiently impartial. Houston Mayor John Whitmire joined growing calls for an independent probe, directing the Houston Police Department to formally request the Texas Rangers lead the state-level investigation.

The Texas shooting came on the heels of a second fatal ICE shooting that has added fuel to public outrage. Just days after Salgado Araujo’s death, ICE agents fatally shot 26-year-old Colombian national Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, prompting mass protests across the northeastern state.

These back-to-back lethal incidents have reignited a long-simmering national debate over ICE’s widespread use of traffic stops as a core enforcement tactic – a strategy that has drawn criticism for targeting immigrant communities and leading to unnecessary civilian deaths. After the shootings, White House border czar Tom Homan suggested the agency would temporarily suspend the practice, but Trump confirmed Tuesday that traffic stops would remain a central tool of his administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Salgado Araujo’s killing has become a flashpoint for critics who argue that current ICE use-of-force policies lack accountability, especially when investigations are limited to internal federal review. With the launch of the Texas Rangers probe, state officials have moved to meet growing public demands for a full and impartial accounting of the shooting.