The Trump administration announced a new proposed rule on Wednesday to increase vetting of foreign nationals and prevent “forever” students who abuse the visa system.

Trump’s Department of Homeland Security highlighted F visas for students, I visas for media members, and J visas for exchange visitors, which include professors, research assistants, au pairs, and camp counselors, among others.

‘For too long, past administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the US virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing [an] untold amount of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging US citizens.’

The rule proposes ending “duration of status” for these visa programs, which currently allow immigrants to remain in the United States for an unspecified period of time without further screening.

“In turn, foreign students have taken advantage of U.S. generosity and have become ‘forever’ students, perpetually enrolled in higher education courses to remain in the U.S.,” a DHS press release reads.

More than 2,100 foreign nationals who were granted F-1 visas between 2000 and 2010 were still residing in the U.S. as of April, according to the proposed rule. It highlighted several instances of abuse, including a case involving a dance school student who received an F-1 visa in 1991. The student’s school reportedly requested 17 program extensions between 2003 and 2020. The student transferred to an English language training program at a different school in 2022 and, as of May, has remained in the U.S. on a student visa, the document noted.

By eliminating duration of status, those on student visas would be permitted to remain in the U.S. only for the duration of their education programs, which are not to exceed four years.

RELATED: Trump admin to vet all visa holders — revoke and deport threats to America

Photo by MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images

Foreign media representatives would be granted a stay of up to 240 days, with the possibility of extending it for an additional 240 days, according to the new rule. However, their time in the U.S. would be limited to the duration of their temporary activity or assignment.

If the proposed rule is adopted, individuals with F, J, or I visas would be admitted for a fixed period of time. They would generally be allowed to request an extension, but they must submit their extension application directly to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“This would allow DHS to conduct proper oversight as part of [Student and Exchange Visitor Program] and [Student and Exchange Visitor Information System] by making access to necessary information more accessible and reducing the number of individuals here on visas,” the DHS press release reads.

RELATED: American universities should be for Americans

Photo by Miami Herald / Contributor via Getty Images

The proposed rule highlighted a significant increase in visa applicants since duration of status was initially granted for these programs, including a reported 250% increase in J visas and a 94% increase in I visas from 1985 to 2023.

“In 2023 alone, there were over 1.6 million admissions in F status, a dramatic rise from when the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) first shifted to D/S admission in 1979. For example, in the 1980-81 school year, there were approximately 260,000 admissions in F status,” the proposed rule reads.

The first Trump administration proposed this rule in 2020. However, it was later withdrawn under the leadership of former President Joe Biden.

“For too long, past administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing [an] untold amount of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens,” a DHS spokesperson stated. “This new proposed rule would end that abuse once and for all by limiting the amount of time certain visa holders are allowed to remain in the U.S., easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and their history.”

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A directory connecting prospective patients to doctors of only one race has been rolled back after a lawsuit.

The lawsuit came from legal activist group Do No Harm, which sued WURD Radio, a Philadelphia radio station that promotes “Black Talk Media.”

According to legal documents, WURD controlled a black doctors’ directory with the support of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Medicine department, along with a group called the Consortium of DEI Health Educators.

‘… connecting you with Black doctors across major hospitals.’

The radio station promoted the directory on Facebook last year as a resource to bridge “Health Gaps in Philadelphia.”

The post stated, “WURD Radio launches the Black Doctors Directory, connecting you with Black doctors across major hospitals.”

As of this week, the Philadelphia-area physicians’ directory has rolled back its requirement that the doctors listed be of a certain race, while also changing its name.

“The Black Doctors Directory is now the Community Health and Wellness Directory. Ability to participate in the Community Health and Wellness Directory is not determined on the basis of race,” Do No Harm wrote in a press release.

The lawsuit noted the directory will have to make more concessions as well.

RELATED: All-female marketing team DESTROYS Cracker Barrel

The radio station agreed to “only publicize the directory under [the new name] or an equally race-neutral name,” and must consider “any licensed physician in the greater Philadelphia area” when adding to the directory.

However, according to the offer of judgment, one caveat to consider was that the licensed physician would have to demonstrate a “commitment to treating patients and communities historically and currently underserved,” but that cannot include inquiring about or considering the physician’s race.

Since the conclusion of the lawsuit became public, PhillyBlackDoctors.com has been taken down, and WURD’s page promoting the directory (as linked through its Facebook post) also no longer appears to be live.

RELATED: The woke party’s favorite costume: Moderation

Then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro sits for a radio interview with WURD on November 8, 2022. Photo by Caroline Gutman/Washington Post/Getty Images

The original webpage had promoted finding black doctors in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, while showcasing radio segments from WURD Radio that featured guests like the “Twin Sister Docs.”

While the listenership for the radio segments is unknown, the online versions of the segments that were visible on the webpage garnered between eight and 32 plays.

“We are grateful that the directory is open to physicians of all races,” said Stanley Goldfarb, M.D. and chairman of Do No Harm. “Do No Harm has long opposed ‘racial concordance,’ a thoroughly debunked theory that only breeds suspicion and prejudice.”

Goldfarb added, “When medical providers prioritize expertise and high-quality care, patients will see better health outcomes.”

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President Donald Trump issued a novel suggestion for the pivotal midterm elections at the same time that Democrats are considering a similar option.

The president said that his policy successes have been so great that they merit a national convention to celebrate before voters return to the ballot box in November 2026.

‘It has never been done before.’

“The Republican Party is doing really well. Millions of people have joined us in our quest to MAKE AMERICA, GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“We won every aspect of the Presidential Election and, based on the great success we are having, are poised to WIN BIG IN THE MIDTERMS,” he added.

He cited a recent campaign finance report that showed the Republican National Committee defeating the Democratic National Committee by a massive margin in donations. The RNC ended up with nearly $81 million in cash in June, while the DNC had only $15.2 million.

“The results are incredible, a record pace!!! In that light, I am thinking of recommending a National Convention to the Republican Party, just prior to the Midterms,” he added. “It has never been done before.”

The statement might have been in response to a report Wednesday from Axios confirming that Democrats are considering a return to a midterm convention, a practice which the DNC ended in the mid-1980s.

“To showcase our tremendous candidates running up and down the ballot and harness the amazing grassroots energy we’re already seeing, several options are on the table for next year, including hosting a large-scale gathering before the midterms,” a spokesperson for the DNC said.

RELATED: Trump unleashes at CPAC 2025: Vows to ‘drain the swamp’ and ignites boisterous cheers

The pivotal midterms will determine which party controls Congress and whether the president’s agenda will be supported or opposed by the vote of the legislature.

State lawmakers in Republican-controlled Texas are looking to redistrict the state map in order to tip the scales in the midterm elections, and lawmakers in Democrat-controlled states like California and New York are threatening to do the same to counteract those efforts.

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Yesterday, 23-year-old Robin Westman fired through windows of Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing two children, aged 8 and 10, and injuring 17 others, 14 of whom were children and three of whom were elderly parishioners. Westman also died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Shortly after the heinous event, it was revealed that Westman identified as transgender. Before he changed his name to Robin, his name was Robert.

But before the news about Westman’s gender identity broke, Liz Wheeler, BlazeTV host of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” intuitively knew the shooter would be trans.

“Before we knew the identity of this shooter, this murderer, I predicted … that the shooter would be trans,” she says.

How was Liz able to predict Westman’s gender identity with such precision?

Because there’s an undeniable link between transgenderism and violence.

“The transgender ideology is intended to be violent. The transgender ideology is intended to do exactly what it did to Audrey Hale in Nashville and exactly what it did to Robert Westman in Minneapolis,” she says. “It’s intended to turn vulnerable young people into kamikazes.”

Transgender ideology, coupled with critical race theory, is how the left unleashes destruction, Liz explains, noting that both of these frameworks are “offshoots of critical theory” — “a Marxist theory that came out of the Frankfurt School back in the 1960s.”

Critical theory, she explains, uses “relentless criticism of institutions,” using the “Marxist dialectic” of “the oppressor versus the oppressed” to sow discord and bring destruction on the culture, specifically race and gender.

“So what happens when our children are indoctrinated with critical race theory and then trans ideology?” she asks.

When it comes to CRT, white kids “start feeling this incredible self-loathing because they’re told it doesn’t matter how you think about people of another race; it doesn’t matter if you aren’t racist at all. … Because the color of your skin means that you enjoy white privilege. All of your success is built on the back of those who were oppressed by people who look like you hundreds of years ago, and you bear responsibility for that.”

Then they’re hit with queer theory, which tells them that if they experience “any kind of feelings of confusion or discomfort in [their] body, [they] can change [their] gender.”

What is the effect of this combination? Ashamed white children, but especially boys, are damned to wear the badge of white oppressor unless they can prove that they’re also a victim. And how do they do that?

“Become one of the oppressed,” Liz says.

“Put on this mantle, this LGBTQIA+++ mantle. Suddenly, you’re one of the oppressed, and you’re okay. You’re not bad. You’re not toxic. You’re not evil. You’re a victim.”

The final stage of grooming comes next. Once a child is blinded by the victimhood narrative, they’re told that the oppressors are Christians, conservatives, and anyone who opposes their ideology.

“They’re told, ‘Watch out. You’re going to be subject to a genocide inflicted by Republicans and by Trump,”’ Liz says. “They are turned against themselves and everything around them.”

Hatred consumes them, and they convince themselves that heinous acts of violence are justified. They may even see themselves as heroic — as “vanguards” of the revolution.

That’s how people like Robert Westman and Audrey Hale are born, and that’s why Liz knew that the Minneapolis shooting was almost certainly a transgender-identifying person.

“Christ have mercy on our nation,” she pleads.

To hear more of Liz’s analysis, watch the episode above.

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The Cracker Barrel company appeared to completely concede the battle over its rebranding effort on Thursday when it deleted a statement of support for the LGBTQ agenda on its website.

Some critics had noted that the company’s decision to change back to the original logo was somewhat meaningless because it had not revoked its LGBTQ statement. Two days later, it appears to have acquiesced.

‘Huge. Our movement has achieved total victory once again.’

The company issued a statement to Fox News Digital after the LGBTQ erasure.

“In connection with the company’s brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing … out-of-date content,” read the statement. “Several months ago, the company also made changes to our Business Resource Groups that now focus all sponsorships or events on our corporate giving initiatives: addressing food insecurity, supporting community needs through food, and reducing food waste.”

The deletion of the Pride page at the company website also erased a statement of support for the Nashville Pride Parade.

On Tuesday, the company announced that it would return to its “Old Timer” logo after having offered a new, modernist design with updated font and no image.

“Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain,” said the company. “At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been — and always will be — about serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that feels like family.”

RELATED: ‘Make Cracker Barrel a WINNER Again’: Trump says restaurant chain can take advantage of controversy

Photo by GREGORY WALTON/AFP via Getty Images

Activist Robby Starbuck was among those who led the opposition and declared victory after the newest concession.

“Huge. Our movement has achieved total victory once again,” he wrote on social media. “Our movement is so powerful that even I can’t believe it sometimes. While the media credits me with these wins, we all know the truth. … These companies don’t fear me, they fear US. I’m just blessed to be your megaphone (and a pretty damn relentless researcher).”

The company’s stock price plummeted the day after the rebranding announcement, but it has slowly recovered and is slightly above its price level before the rebranding.

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An eight-woman marketing team concocted a rebrand of the legendary breakfast spot Cracker Barrel — and it could not have gone worse.

The rebrand oversaw the removal of the old country white man and vintage type from the logo and replaced it with sterile, soulless lettering. This got the attention of Americans across the country, who then took a deeper look into the company’s policies.

“Look at all these DEI policies they have. Look at all the LGBTQ stuff they had,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.” “And the next thing you know, Cracker Barrel, its stock is plummeting. People are starting to boycott the way people boycotted Target.”

“This was a disaster put on by this eight-woman marketing team,” he adds.

Whitlock believes what’s happened to the once-beloved company is part of a bigger cultural issue and can be blamed on feminism.

“They’ve made diversity the ultimate goal rather than excellence. That’s what this is all about. And so they look at everything. They look at the logo and the branding and everything from the past when it was a competition among men. … They look at anything like that from the past as, ‘That’s bad, that’s evil, that must be eradicated, that must be erased,’” Whitlock explains.

“And so they get triggered,” he continues. “They see, ‘Why is an old white man the logo for Cracker Barrel? Let’s remove him.’ And they’re doing this throughout all of American society. Eliminating male leadership because they have convinced everybody that diversity is the goal.”

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During a press gaggle this week, President Trump casually announced that the United States would allow 600,000 Chinese nationals to enter the country as college students. He has long focused on improving relations with China, but the idea of importing and educating such numbers runs against the America First instincts of his voters.

When Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was asked why these students were so important, he admitted that many U.S. universities would go out of business without foreign enrollment. For the right, that sounds less like a warning and more like a promise.

Republicans once opposed bailouts for failing businesses. Why make an exception for universities that train activists and foreigners to despise America?

Ending large-scale immigration from a rival power while letting bankrupt institutions fail should be an easy win. Instead, the Trump administration seems poised to prop up anti-American universities by training the children of our most dangerous adversary.

Why import students from our greatest rival?

Every conservative politician and pundit insists that China is America’s foremost threat. It has a massive population, vast economic leverage, deep investments in resources, and ambitions to expand its sphere of influence. Its military is large, its weapons advanced, and its spies operate regularly on U.S. soil. A hot war may be unlikely, but it is fair to call China our greatest economic and geopolitical rival. So why are we welcoming Chinese nationals into the country, much less into our most prestigious schools?

America’s broader immigration crisis has already ravaged our job market, housing market, health system, and education system. Illegal immigration rightly comes first: Illegal aliens are unvetted, often smuggled in by cartels and gangs, and begin their stay by breaking the law.

But the public is waking up to the damage caused by legal immigration as well. The administration recently admitted there are 55 million active visa holders eligible to enter the United States — a number equal to the combined populations of Florida and Texas. Voters want both illegal immigration ended and legal immigration slashed.

Chinese nationals should be first on the block. If China is truly our enemy, why would we let any of its citizens inside? The Chinese state is infamous for espionage. Its spy network has penetrated American government, military, corporations, and universities. These spies don’t just chase classified secrets; they steal research and technology from labs and departments. Commentators like Eric Weinstein have suggested that universities slow their own programs for fear that breakthroughs will be stolen by foreign students. America is holding back its own scientific progress to import spies. That’s insane.

Educating tomorrow’s rivals

The danger goes beyond espionage. Universities don’t just teach skills; they confer the credentials that grant access to elite institutions in business, science, and government. A Chinese student who returns home brings knowledge and prestige that strengthen a rival nation. One who stays uses that same credential to climb into elite corporations or agencies that shape American culture, policy, and economy. Why would we seed our leadership class with foreign nationals from our chief adversary?

This also raises the question of whom our universities exist to serve. In a Fox News interview, Howard Lutnick admitted outright that these Chinese students would displace Americans from top universities. That isn’t speculation; it’s an open admission. Under an America First agenda, displacing native students for the children of foreign rivals is indefensible. Taxpayer-backed institutions must put American children first.

The bailout excuse

Lutnick argues that Chinese students keep universities solvent. Foreign students pay higher tuition and receive less aid. So what? The idea that universities are too big to fail and must be bailed out with foreign visas is laughable. Many schools already hoard enormous endowments. If others collapse, that’s the market working. Republicans once opposed bailouts for failing businesses. Why make an exception for universities that train activists and foreigners to despise America?

RELATED: ‘Paperwork Americans’ are not your countrymen

Blaze Media Illustration

The truth is that universities are ideology factories. They churn out left-wing radicals who hate America and despise Christianity. Yes, we still need doctors and engineers, but there is no reason to subsidize this industry with mass immigration. Republicans should be forcing universities to purge their bias or lose government funding. Instead, they are keeping them afloat with students from a hostile foreign power.

America First means Americans first

Trump often makes sweeping statements he never intends to enact. This may be a bargaining ploy in negotiations with Xi Jinping. But sovereignty should never be a chip in trade talks. Chinese enrollment peaked at 372,000 in 2020 and fell to 277,000 in 2024. Now the administration is talking about more than doubling it. The correct number isn’t 600,000. It isn’t 277,000. It’s zero.

The United States should stop importing enemies to enrich its ruling class. American universities should exist for Americans. That is what America First must mean.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, International students, Chinese students, Immigration, Immigration crisis, China, Spies, Espionage, Anti-america, Ideology, America first, Donald trump, Student visas, Howard lutnick, Trade