Philosophy Major Snatched by ICE During Citizenship Interview

Duplicate links and why this story was posted here

• Commenters note this story had already appeared via CBC/BBC links.
• The submitter argues Daily Nous is significant because it is a professional-philosophy outlet breaking its usual focus to highlight an “extraordinary” rights issue.

Legal and constitutional concerns about the deportations

• Several ask why courts have not broadly paused deportations given patterns of detention without charges and rapid removal preventing legal petitions.
• Some say the “rule of law is compromised” because the executive is openly ignoring court orders, including a recent unanimous Supreme Court decision requiring people to see a courtroom before deportation.
• Others explain limits of US courts: judges typically can only grant relief to parties before them; standing rules often require harm to have already occurred.
• There is discussion of habeas corpus and whether quickly flying people out is a way of evading judicial review.
• One commenter suggests the pattern could fit a RICO-style conspiracy theory targeting officials across states.
• Another cites doctrine that courts cannot direct the executive’s conduct of foreign relations, raising questions about state responsibility toward people harmed by such policies.

Courts, partisanship, and enforcement

• Long subthread on “court packing”: many argue the right has systematically filled courts with partisan judges; others respond that both parties do this and that current conservative moves are “restoring balance.”
• Some point out that even many right-leaning judges appear disturbed by current executive actions, questioning the point of packing courts if their rulings are then ignored.
• There is a historical tangent about FDR, the Warren Court, and whether current conservative efforts are retaliation for earlier “abuses.”

Immigration, “illegals,” and camp terminology

• One side insists anyone who entered illegally is “guilty” and rejects use of “concentration camp” for El Salvador’s facility.
• Others argue the issue is lack of due process, not mere illegality, and characterize secretive mass detention and transfer against court orders as closer to human trafficking than ordinary deportation.

Meta: HN as a venue for political discussion

• Some say HN is a technical forum and not the place for this; others want “technical” levels of critical thinking applied to politics.
• There is criticism of perceived anti-political moderation, with claims this itself is a political stance and may tilt right.
• A counterpoint clarifies there is no formal ban on politics; instead, the community tends to suppress threads likely to devolve into low-quality flamewars.

“Philosophy major” as a narrative hook

• Commenters question why the headline stresses the person’s major.
• Replies: it signals an educated, non–working-class profile that many readers can relate to (“it could be me”), suggests a likely legitimate student-visa path toward citizenship, and fits the source (a philosophy-focused site).

Extended tangent: crime, homelessness, and “right-wing impulses”

• A large branch of the thread shifts to San Francisco crime, homelessness, and statements by prominent tech figures.
• One side frames calls for stricter enforcement as a “right-wing impulse” that moralizes about poor people’s failings while ignoring systemic and white-collar crime.
• Others argue people across classes—especially the poor—are harmed by lax enforcement and simply want basic public order without adopting authoritarian models.
• There is debate over causes of SF’s situation: urban form and climate vs. policing and prosecution changes; the effectiveness of “housing first”; and whether some severely ill people ultimately require inpatient care.

Moral reaction to this specific case

• At least one commenter who had been skeptical of similar stories finds this case especially compelling after watching the subject’s interview, viewing him as clearly sympathetic and “faultless.”
• Another suggests the apparent indifference and brutality may be intentional, signaling that authorities “don’t care” and normalizing cruelty as political realism.