Amandla Thomas-Johnson, a Black British journalist and doctoral student, has detailed how their time in the United States was cut short after a sequence of actions by immigration authorities forced them to leave.
Black British Activist Leaves the US After Visa Termination
The activist, who had been pursuing a PhD at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, described arriving in the US four years ago under the belief that holding a British passport offered protection from the kind of immigration scrutiny faced by others. The perception of safety was based on experiences as a journalist reporting across the Sahel, where mobility and access had been crucial.
The situation changed dramatically in September of last year, when Thomas-Johnson attended a campus protest in support of Palestine. The demonstration, which disrupted a university job fair, targeted companies including Boeing and L3Harris, both known to supply weapons to Israel. Although the activist says they were present for only a few minutes, the university imposed a ban from entering its premises. Because their residence was located on Cornell’s campus, this measure felt akin to a form of house arrest, allowing them to live on site but barring them from academic facilities.
By January, the political climate shifted further as Donald Trump returned to office, armed with a set of executive orders aimed directly at non-citizen student protesters. Feeling vulnerable under these new directives, Thomas-Johnson went into hiding at the remote residence of a professor. Fear of being located by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) grew after a friend who had previously spent time with them was detained and interrogated at a Florida airport. Although the friend was released, the line of questioning made clear that authorities were aware of personal associations.
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In April, three months after leaving their Cornell residence, Thomas-Johnson self-deported to Canada before flying onward to Switzerland. They avoided returning to the United Kingdom due to reports of pro-Palestinian journalists being detained there. The move to Switzerland was intended to bring safety and stability, yet within two weeks, two alarming messages appeared in their inbox. The first, from Cornell University, confirmed that US authorities had terminated their student visa status. The second, arriving less than two hours later, came from Google, stating that it had responded to a legal request and provided Thomas-Johnson’s data to the Department of Homeland Security. The proximity of the two notifications suggested close coordination and confirmed that surveillance had been ongoing.
Amnesty International Links Surveillance to Predictive Policing Software
An investigation by Amnesty International has shed light on the possible systems used to monitor Thomas-Johnson and other non-US citizens. The group’s findings highlight the role of advanced surveillance technologies in assessing and flagging individuals considered to pose potential risks, often without evidence of wrongdoing.
Central to Amnesty’s report is Babel X, a software platform developed by Virginia-based company Babel Street. This tool is designed to search across social media platforms for keywords associated with terrorism. Once a query is initiated, the system’s “persistent search” function continually monitors new material that may be linked. Amnesty International expressed concerns that the technology relies on probabilistic analysis, which carries a high margin of error and can reproduce existing biases. According to the organisation, such errors risk framing legitimate political expression as extremist or antisemitic content. In response to Amnesty’s inquiries, Babel Street did not provide comment.
The report also identifies Palantir’s ImmigrationOS as another system influencing immigration enforcement actions. The software consolidates records to build electronic case files that can integrate multiple investigations. By drawing links across various data points, the platform provides authorities with a broad view of individuals’ activities and movements. Rolled out in April, the same month that Thomas-Johnson left the United States, ImmigrationOS is also capable of tracking self-deportations. While Palantir told Amnesty that its technology does not specifically target student protesters and denied involvement in human rights violations, its deployment coincided with the timeline of Thomas-Johnson’s case.
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These technological tools, used alongside existing immigration enforcement frameworks, place activists, migrants, and journalists under heavy scrutiny. The opacity of the process means those affected are rarely able to challenge decisions or understand the basis for surveillance. For Thomas-Johnson, who had worked as a journalist covering Guantánamo Bay, drone warfare in the Sahel, and British intelligence operations in Libya, the suspicion may have been heightened by a history of reporting on US-led counterterrorism campaigns.
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The activist maintains that they have never been accused or prosecuted for criminal activity or antisemitic conduct. Nevertheless, their experiences highlight the secrecy with which immigration enforcement operates and the lack of avenues for redress. In a filing submitted to eight United Nations special rapporteurs, the University of Chicago Law Clinic outlined the cases of Thomas-Johnson and eight other non-citizen protesters, arguing that US authorities had violated the right to free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment. The filing noted that the individuals targeted had primarily been involved in demonstrations against Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Thomas-Johnson’s testimony also underscores the personal toll of these measures. In Switzerland, they describe living with month-to-month uncertainty over accommodation and financial support. Access to medical treatment has required navigating difficult bureaucratic hurdles. The activist recounts that prior to leaving the United States, a reminder from a barber in Ithaca underscored the reality of their situation: despite holding a British passport and attending an Ivy League institution, their Black identity placed them in a precarious position within American society. The combination of race, religion, and political expression, they suggest, made them especially vulnerable to surveillance and enforcement.
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Amnesty International’s investigation situates this individual case within a broader trend of governments working with major technology companies to monitor migrants and dissenters. The report argues that systems such as Babel X and ImmigrationOS operate within a “pre-crime” framework that has grown since the onset of the “war on terror.” Under this logic, individuals are scrutinised and sometimes penalised based on predicted behaviour rather than proven actions. The collaboration between state agencies and private firms raises questions about accountability and the extent to which constitutional safeguards apply to non-citizens.
In Gaza, Amnesty International notes that algorithm-driven warfare has already contributed to widespread destruction and loss of life. By applying similar technologies domestically, the organisation warns that migrant communities and political activists face heightened risks of arbitrary detention, exclusion, and expulsion.
For Thomas-Johnson, the reality is now shaped by displacement, surveillance, and disrupted education. Their account highlights how immigration control, advanced technology, and political dissent have become deeply entwined, leaving individuals with little protection once they fall under suspicion.