Deirdre Fernandes

3 weeks ago | bostonglobe.com | Stephanie Ebbert |Deirdre Fernandes

Seven people targeted in recent weeks were flagged on a list compiled by Betar, including two from New England — Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was seized in late March, and Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi, who was detained in Vermont on Monday. It is unclear to what extent — if at all — the administration relies on the lists from Betar or Canary Mission, another pro-Israel group, which has been collecting names of such protesters for about a decade.

3 weeks ago | bostonglobe.com | Stephanie Ebbert |Deirdre Fernandes

When a shooting broke out at a pro-Israel rally in suburban Newton in September, a Zionist group rushed to fan the flames and called for a boycott of the city. Two months later, Betar US took aim at Memphis, demanding that the murder of an Israeli-born locksmith be investigated as a hate crime. Now, the US chapter of the century-old Zionist group is engaged in its most audacious gambit — attempting to steer government deportations of foreign students who have advocated on behalf of Palestinians.

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Stephanie Ebbert |Deirdre Fernandes

After Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk was apprehended Tuesday evening, the 100-year-old Zionist organization Betar US said it had handed the government her name. “She was on our list,” the organization posted on the social media platform X, with a video of Öztürk’s arrest on the streets of Somerville.

2 months ago | bostonglobe.com | Deirdre Fernandes |Sean Cotter |Camilo Fonseca

Immigration authorities arrested a German national with a green card at Logan International Airport March 7, according to a family member and the partner of the man interviewed by the Globe. Fabian Schmidt, of New Hampshire, is being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, R.I., according to a public Immigration and Customs Enforcement database. Schmidt, 34, was born in Germany, but has been in the US since his teens, his family said.

Feb 10, 2025 | bostonglobe.com | Stephanie Ebbert |Deirdre Fernandes

Governor Maura Healey’s new policy requiring additional criminal background checks of all adults in the state’s family shelter system has one striking catch: It would not evict anyone who has a criminal record. The policy, which went into effect in late January, calls for the family of someone convicted of a felony to be moved into more permanent housing ― the same goal for all families in shelters — using state programs such as HomeBASE, which provides $30,000 in rent aid over two years.