Speaking of the First Amendment: Do Foreign Students Have First Amendment Rights? President Trump has ordered the Justice Department to deport “Hamas protestors” on campuses and pull their student visas. The president’s order states: “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.” Can President Trump do this legally? And should he do this? Eugene Volokh, Protect The 1st Senior Legal Advisor and scholar at UCLA’s School of Law, gives an account of the divergent precedents on this question. He then provides his reaction: “I should say that I don't support the deportation of aliens for supporting foreign violence (at least unless there is reason to think they will act violently here) … There are lots of legitimate arguments for violence when it comes to foreign wars and other international matters. Which arguments are morally sound and which aren't should be a matter for debate, not for government fiat. “And I think that chilling the speech of lawful visitors to the U.S. does interfere with the marketplace of ideas for Americans. Indeed, even pro-Hamas speech on American university campuses has, I think, taught many Americans a valuable lesson about various speakers, groups, and ideologies. That would be true of speech by foreign students or by lawful permanent residents as well as by American citizens.” Volokh quotes Sarah McLaughlin from her piece on the website of the Foundation for Individual Rights (FIRE): “Advocates of ideological deportation today should not be surprised to see it used against ideas they support in the future.” Comments are closed.
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