New visa and CPT restrictions threaten international students’ off-campus jobs

After the Trump administration placed new restrictions on Curricular Practical Training (CPT), a program that has historically allowed F-1 international students to work off campus, some international students have had to turn down jobs, while others expressed uncertainty about future opportunities.
In August, ICE sent a memo to colleges and universities directing them to issue CPT only when an internship or practical training experience is necessary for graduation, a stricter interpretation of the existing policy. The memo states that “improper CPT authorization” could result in “administrative or legal consequences,” such as a college losing its ability to enroll international students.

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CMC ranks second in FIRE free speech rankings, other 5Cs receive failing grades

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gave Claremont McKenna College (CMC) the second-place spot on its 2027 College Free Speech Rankings, a report that rates the free speech climates at college and university campuses nationwide. CMC received a passing “B-” grade from FIRE, while all of the other undergraduate Claremont Colleges received failing “F” grades.
Of the 261 colleges surveyed, Pitzer College ranked 160th, Scripps College ranked 167th, Harvey Mudd College ranked 184th and Pomona College ranked 226th. While the other Claremont Colleges saw increases in their rankings compared to last year, CMC dropped by one rank, losing its first-place spot to the University of Chicago.

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OPINION: Trump’s authoritarianism doesn’t listen to your No Kings Day cardboard signs

Trump’s administration has sanctioned a campaign of extrajudicial kidnappings, careless deportation, and general terror. It has forced those it targets to ask the permanent question of will I still be here tomorrow, every day. So why do we only show our dissent if we get a little free time, and nothing good is on TV? In the No Kings protests, Jason Murillo PO ‘28 sees performance, not praxis. Cheerfully bobbing oh-so-clever signs on streetcorners does nothing to practically oppose a regime that has no respect for the Constitution, much less polite dissent.

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OPINION: Neoliberalism handed a Nazi’s son Chile’s presidency

A Chilean, a Chicagoan and a dictator walk into a South American nation. Why, after 50 years does a Nazi walk out, and why is the answer neoliberalism? The perfect storm of the Chilean coup d’état and the subsequent neoliberal regime is often credited with the nation’s economic rise. But Rafael Hernandez Guerrero PZ’29 argues that its policies, sowing the seeds of the disenfranchisement of the working and middle classes, have enabled the rise of far-right ideology there, and abroad.

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OPINION: Nationalist advertisement is the new plague in American politics

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has passed, rushing through the House and Senate on the back of a Republican majority — not on the merits of its policy. Following the discussion among elected officials in early July, the Republican party is straying from their mission to protect the American people and instead relying on marketing to present its agenda as the solution to American malaise. Celeste Cariker PZ ‘28 campaigns for a return to truth in American politics, demanding for policy solutions in the face of shiny marketing from the Republican party.

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OPINION: Rethinking the Supreme Court

In the face of the Trump administration’s aggressive cuts and actions, the judicial branch has been an early stalwart line against executive overreach. Alex Benach PO ’28 argues that the judicial branch’s highest court is deeply flawed.

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