Trump’s Assault on Free Speech Cannot Stand
A crowd gathers in Foley Square, outside the Manhattan federal court, in support of Mahmoud Khalil, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
This past weekend, the Trump administration forcibly detained Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist, in New York City and transferred him to an “isolated complex” in central Louisiana. Khalil, a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen, now faces the threat of deportation under dubious claims of “national security risk.”
This case is not just about Khalil. His arrest signifies the continued authoritarian shift of the Trump administration, escalating its blatant effort to target activists, suppress free speech, and weaponize immigration laws and violently racist policies to silence political dissent. Regardless of your opinion on Khalil’s views, this assault on civil liberties should terrify you.
According to The Free Press, an unnamed official in the Trump administration admitted that Khalil was not accused of “breaking the law” but was deemed a “threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States.” This justification is alarmingly vague and disturbingly reminiscent of past abuses of power, such as McCarthyism and the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows for deportation if the actions of a noncitizen “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” However, the Department of Homeland Security has yet to provide concrete evidence that Khalil engaged in unlawful activity or had any material connection to Hamas, as they have vaguely suggested. The implications of this are chilling: If the government can strip a legal resident of their rights based on ideological alignment alone, who is safe?
As a green card holder, Khalil is entitled to the protections of the U.S. Constitution, including the First and Fifth Amendments, which guarantee free speech and due process—Bridges v. Wixon affirmed that legal residents cannot be arbitrarily detained or deported without substantive due process. The Trump administration’s actions fly in the face of these precedents.
Moreover, under Brandenburg v. Ohio, political speech can only be criminalized if it incites “imminent lawless action.” While other forms of speech—including defamation, obscenity, or threats to national security—can be restricted, Khalil’s involvement in peaceful protests does not meet these standards. If his detention is allowed to stand, it will set a precedent where lawful political expression becomes grounds for state retaliation—blatantly authoritarian.
Note that Khalil’s transfer to Louisiana is no coincidence. Over 1,000 miles from New York City, his case now falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fifth Court of Appeals, a notoriously conservative bench that has frequently disregarded legal precedent in favor of right-wing
ideology. The administration is banking on a favorable ruling to normalize its unconstitutional crackdown on dissent.
This cannot stand.
A federal judge in New York City has temporarily halted Khalil’s deportation, but the fight is far from over. Both the unnamed administration official and Trump himself have signaled that this is just the beginning. The President has vowed to “find, apprehend, and deport” students who, in his view, express dissent against his policies. This is not just about Palestine. It is about an administration attempting to crush opposition through fear and force.
As James Baldwin wrote in Notes for a Hypothetical Novel, “Freedom is not something that anybody can be given; freedom is something people take and people are as free as they want to be.” In the same way, I urge you: Do not let yourself be blinded by what this is not—this is not mere partisan squabbling, but a serious effort to dismantle the democracy that defines this nation. The administration’s assault on our rights is not hypothetical. It is happening now. We must act.
For those of you who believe in democracy and civil liberties, silence is not an option. Here’s how you can take action:
1. Contact your representatives – Demand that they speak out against this blatant attack on free speech and pressure the administration to uphold constitutional protections. Make sure that your government serves you. Find your representative here.
2. Support legal defense efforts – Organizations like the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights are fighting against these abuses. Donate, volunteer, or amplify their work.
3. Stay informed and educate others – The administration thrives on distraction and misinformation. Share verified information with your community to counter fear-driven narratives, and look for evidence if you doubt the veracity of a claim.
4. Mobilize and protest – Public pressure has worked before, and it is working now. Republican House leadership has told their members to stop hosting town halls. Good. That means they feel the pressure. If we want to stop these constitutional abuses, we must show up in numbers. And we must keep showing up.
For those overwhelmed by fear and grief, know this: Authoritarianism feeds on silence. Trump’s actions are designed to intimidate, but we cannot allow them to succeed. Those with privilege must act, just as those who lack it always have. Now is the time to resist.
In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Do not let your grievances with a man’s lawful usage of his free speech be what pushes you to allow yours to be taken away as well. If we allow Mahmoud Khalil’s voice to be censored today, who will be next?
Let history show that we did not stand by in silence.