Black SEL hub at Durham school? | Normies notice H-1B visa abuse | Arrest: Indian scammer in Apex
No. 143 — Sep. 21-Sep. 27, 2025
Majority-black school opens “Social Emotional Learning” hub for black students
Black Emotional Learning Hub launches at Hillside High; first-of-its-kind in the U.S. - ABC11
On Thursday, ABC11 reported on a “historic moment” as the ribbon was cut on the “first-ever Black Social Emotional Liberation Hub” at Hillside High School in Durham, which “is described as a prevention-focused, culturally grounded space to affirm, uplift, and empower Black students through social emotional learning and liberation.”
Since when are government schools dedicating resources to students of a particular race? Does it make it better or worse that the targeted demographic makes up a majority (57%) of the student body?
Are the Hispanic (33%), Asian (2%), and white (3%) minority students at Hillside High simply left out in the cold in regards to “centering their cultural identity, lived experiences, and leadership?”
“Social emotional learning” (which has been described as “neo-Communist brainwashing to induce critical consciousness on your kids and to bring them into the Woke cult”) is perhaps actually not what the black and non-black students at Hillside High actually need, where every demographic of students appears to be falling well short of the state average in terms of grade level-proficiency. (The school received a “D” grade for 2023-2024 on the state’s report card).
H-1B visa abuse: even the normies are noticing
Last week, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation announcing a $100,000 fee for new applications for H-1B Specialty Occupations visas, explaining that the H-1B visa “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor,” citing figures of the growing foreign share of STEM employment and examples of corporations laying off American workers while continuing to hire new foreign workers through the H-1B visa program.
The Research Triangle has been a hotspot for H-1B visas, with thousands of applications per year for foreigners to work at jobs in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Morrisville:
The reactions from the sponsoring corporations, recruiting agencies, immigration lawyers, and visa recipients who profit from the H-1B visa program are predictable, but what is perhaps more interesting is the response from locals who have experience in the tech industry.
I came across a thread in the Raleigh subreddit discussing Trump’s H-1B action, and was surprised to find that a number of the most upvoted replies in the reliably left-wing and anti-Trump safe space were expressing the very same skepticism with the H-1B visa being used to recruit for entry-level or lower-skilled positions which could be filled with Americans:
At least for IT/SWE, can anyone really with a straight face say that we have a shortage of qualified people looking for roles? Mind you H1B is commonly used for junior-mid level run of the mill SWE,sysadmin, network engineer level roles.
I know several qualified engineers that aren’t getting interviews and take up to a year to land a new role.
I don’t buy the offshoring argument either. That is happening regardless and H1B wasn’t preventing them from doing so.
— (@VSL_Drop_Bit) September 21, 2025
There are plenty of H1Bs working at Duke, UnC and State as researchers who have PhDs and are post docs who are truly deserving of the visa.
There are plenty of H1Bs at Fidelity who work as program managers, project managers, scrum masters, data developers, QA, testers who have no business being on H1B. Those skills and jobs are used for paying lower. Even community college graduates can do QA and point and click report development.
All that said the changes are just a show of bluster to appease Trump’s base since they have already tracked back and said it will only affect new H1Bs and not existing ones. There will also be carve outs and exceptions once corporations give him money. However it might have a chilling effect on the sale of 4000 sq ft mansions and real estate in Apex, Holly Springs, Morrisville and other suburbs.
— (@nus07) September 21, 2025
Triangle companies say they need H-1B’s, because there’s no qualified people within a 2.2 million metro area. We’ll see how true that is. Three major universities, a well educated local population; I just don’t buy that there’s no one local (or in this state even) that can’t do the majority of H-1B jobs here. That’s not to say there aren’t top talent legitimately using those visas, but how much actually? We don’t know. Too many companies have been gaming the system for too long.
— (@dontKair) September 21, 2025
Previous H-1B coverage:
Facts about H-1B visas (No. 104 — Dec. 28, 2024)
NC’s biggest H-1B sponsors have engaged in “systemic visa fraud”, anti-American discrimination (Original Article — Jan. 6, 2025)
Would NC House budget resolve school districts’ H-1B visa dependency? (Original Article — May 19, 2025)
Sting catches Indian scammer in Apex
Unfortunately, the influx of Indians on visas like the H-1B (approximately 3/4 of H-1B recipients are from India) has brought with it the stereotypical Indian crime of scamming the elderly, with an Indian scammer operating out of Apex being implicated in a conspiracy which stole thousands of dollars from an elderly American, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
The scammers reportedly posed as Microsoft representatives, telling the victim their computer was locked and demanding cash (in person) to unlock it. The LCSO says that they were contacted by a victim’s bank as well as concerned family members after a group of scammers attempted to extract more money from a previously defrauded victim.
When Avinash Chandreshbhai Patel, 19, showed up to collect, he was arrested and charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretenses and felony conspiracy. According to the charging documents, Patel is alleged to have been “presented as a IRS agent by a third party in order to obtain $25,000.00 USD from the victim.”
The documents also include the name of one alleged co-conspirator (apparently also of Indian origin), Rushan Gohil, who does not appear to have been charged.
Patel has been released on a $75,000 bond; the LCSO says the investigation is ongoing and further charges are pending.
ICYMI - “I am Antifa:” detention officer terminated after advocating for imprisoning/executing right-wingers
The Orange County detention officer identified last Saturday as having identified himself as “antifa” and called for the imprisonment/execution of the right wing was fired on Monday after a brief investigation found he had violated the standards and policy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office:
"I am Antifa:" detention officer terminated after advocating for imprisoning/executing right-wingers
An employee of the Orange County Sheriff's Office has been terminated from his position as Detention Corporal after a right-wing meme account on Twitter/X exposed social media posts in which Brian D. Edwards identified himself as "antifa" and called for right-wingers to be "thrown in prison" or even sent to the "guillotine."
The mainstream media coverage of stories like this reminds me of exactly why I began publishing local news as an independent journalist. Despite national coverage from right-wing outlets, ABC11 doesn’t appear to have covered the story at all, while CBS17 and WRAL limited themselves to rewording the sheriff’s press release, though the latter did obtain a quote from the fired officer, Brian Edwards. The News & Observer coverage was better, actually quoting and linking to the posts which prompted the complaints to his employer over the weekend.
However, you’ll have to come right here to the Triangle Trumpet for relevant context like the fact that radical antifa and leftist extremism tied to Orange County and UNC-Chapel Hill goes far beyond mere social media posts, with incidents like the firebombing of the Orange County GOP headquarters in 2016, black bloc/antifa tactics associated with the recent pro-Palestine activism, and a UNC Law student charged in relation to a black bloc antifa attack in Georgia.
Charlie Kirk vigils continue
The remembrance for Charlie Kirk continued in the second week after his assassination, with two more prayer vigils held in the Triangle.
On Sunday, over a hundred gathered at the Wake GOP headquarters in Raleigh for a vigil organized by the party, which included remarks by State Auditor Dave Boliek and Labor Commissioner Luke Farley.
On Tuesday, a vigil organized by the Wake Forest chapter of Turning Point USA attracted nearly three hundred attendees outside of Youngsville.
