In a March 6 address to Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump made a bold assertion: “I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America.” However, this boast immediately proved to be false. In the weeks following the speech, the Trump administration has detained at least nine students who legally reside in the United States for exercising their right to protest and speak freely. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that the State Department revoked the visas of at least 300 international students as of late March, indicating that the arrests of activists like Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil mark only the beginning of the administration’s crusade against free speech.
These deportation attempts signal an ominous trend. The Trump administration is cracking down on demonstrations that conflict with its pro-Israel foreign policy agenda, especially those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. While the U.S. Constitution protects free speech, the Trump administration’s interpretation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 grants the federal government the power to revoke visas and deport individuals based on vague allegations of foreign policy or national security concerns. These detentions reveal Trump’s blatant hypocrisy and represent a dangerous turn toward authoritarianism, treating those who express an opinion contrary to his agenda as political enemies whose rights are expendable. At Emory University, students cannot be afraid to exercise our rights to speak out against Trump's politics of subjugation.
As Emory students, we are a part of an institution that claims to foster “an environment where open expression of ideas is valued, promoted, and encouraged.” However, we stand face-to-face with a government that undermines its self-professed democratic principles and threatens universities’ status as institutions of free discourse and debate. On our campus, these national debates have become increasingly relevant. Student organizers exploded in outrage after an alleged screenshot on Emory Students for Socialism’s Instagram displayed Chabad at Emory Executive Director and Rabbi Zalman Lipskier encouraging students to report their peers to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for “support of terrorist organizations.”
Jewish students across the country have also voiced fears about the increasingly violent nature of campus protests since last April. Some of these protests have led to acts of vandalism, property destruction and intimidation of Jewish students. At Columbia University (N.Y.), protesters reportedly vandalized campus property and disrupted classes, raising safety concerns.
While ensuring the safety of all students on campus is an understandable priority, exploiting the Trump administration’s targeted deportations by reporting student activists to ICE is not only irresponsible, but vindictive. Whether the post was authentic or not, Lipskier's position as a leader requires him to quell inflammatory action within Emory’s community. By not publicly addressing the allegations, Lipskier is only further isolating international students who are already facing increased scrutiny and dehumanization on campus.
ICE has a pattern of ignoring due process and interrogating detainees in inhumane conditions, wrought with medical neglect, punitive solitary confinement and discriminatory treatment. Individuals found guilty of criminal charges should be punished through the legal system, not handed over to a government agency that disregards their Sixth Amendment right to legal counsel. Moreover, ICE is actively attempting to deport individuals who have not been convicted of any crime, including Tufts University (Mass.) graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk.
Ozturk, originally from Turkey, held a valid F-1 student visa before the federal government revoked it. On March 25, plainclothes officers detained Ozturk as she was heading out to meet her friends for Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan. ICE flew her to a detention center in Louisiana, 1,000 miles from her home, without notifying her lawyer.
In a statement posted on X, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin alleged that Ozturk was involved in terrorist activities with Hamas, even though she did not provide evidence or specify what those activities entailed.
“A visa is a privilege, not a right,” McLaughlin said.“Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated.”
McLaughlin’s statement demonstrates how the justifications for these deportations are often vague, unsubstantiated and ultimately, undemocratic.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has joined Ozturk’s legal team, believes that her arrest is the result of an opinion piece she wrote for The Tufts Daily in March 2024. In the article, Ozturk and her co-authors condemn the Tufts administration’s inadequate response to the resolutions the Tufts student government passed, which included a call for Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and disclose and divest the school’s investments from companies tied to Israel.
If the ACLU’s claim proves true, then Ozturk was criminalized merely for expressing her opinion. Civil liberties organizations argue that, based on historical precedent, that the First Amendment protects non-citizens. Ozturk’s article clearly falls under freedom of the press protections. However, to the Trump administration, her actions violate Section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a rarely used law which holds that an individual can be considered “deportable” if their actions seriously endanger U.S. national security. Equating the criticism of American governmental interests with criminality sets a dangerous limit on the extent of free speech.
If a student like Ozturk, whose only crime appears to be criticizing her university and America’s political agenda, can be subjected to deportation, then any international student who tangentially engages in so-called anti-American activities could be targeted. From encouraging others to attend a demonstration to sharing a post with pro-Palestine views, all of these could be considered deportable offenses on such undefined grounds.
Non-citizens everywhere, including international students at Emory, are at risk. As members of The Emory Wheel’s Editorial Board, we acknowledge that free expression is the foundation of our work. We have outwardly expressed grievances toward the authoritarianism of the Trump administration throughout our tenure and now decide to speak out against his purposeful erasure of the diversity within American thought.
The discourse surrounding freedom of speech is especially relevant as protests continue to unfold on Emory’s campus and throughout the Atlanta area. Now more than ever, Emory students must stand in solidarity with those facing unjust detentions or deportations by refusing to conform our opinions to neutrality. The legacy of robust student expression on campuses must not bend the knee to the fear of governmental repercussions. We must challenge policies that undermine free speech and ensure our University upholds its commitment to open expression. Those who are citizens should wield their privilege and advocate for their peers, even if the administration does not directly affect them. It is time to loudly protest for our right to the freedom of speech — before our community becomes another casualty of Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
The above editorial represents the majority opinion of The Emory Wheel’s Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is composed of Editorial Board Editor Carly Aikens, Arts & Life Editor Hunter Buchheit, Allie Guo, Carson Kindred, Mira Krichavsky, Eliana Liporace, Niki Rajani, Ilka Tona and Crystal Zhang.
