AILA Leaders Express Deep Concerns at Trump Administration Undermining Constitutionally Protected First Amendment Rights

Washington, DC – Kelli Stump, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and Ben Johnson, AILA Executive Director, have issued a response to recent actions and threats by the Trump Administration against individuals with legal immigration status that undermine fundamental constitutional rights:

Kelli Stump, AILA President, noted, “Thus far, President Trump’s immigration policies have undermined public safety and created chaos in our immigration system. Now, we are witnessing a chilling and deeply concerning shift to targeting people for exercising their fundamental right of free speech. By all accounts, including statements by Secretary of State Rubio, the government has not yet charged Mahmoud Khalil with any crimes, let alone terrorism-related crimes. They are charging him under a rarely-used law that makes an individual deportable if the Secretary of State thinks said individual’s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. I have never seen this ground of removability charged on a permanent resident of the United States and neither have any of my colleagues with whom I have spoken. It appears Mr. Khalil has been targeted because President Trump doesn’t like his beliefs, because, so far, the government hasn’t been able to show any evidence of an actual crime. This country fought a revolutionary war and created our Constitution, utterly rejecting that kind of tyrannical power and establishing fundamental rights like the freedom of speech and the right to due process. We cannot and must not allow the foundation of our country to be undermined and devalued by this President.”

Ben Johnson, AILA Executive Director stated, “The Trump administration is attempting to use an obscure section of immigration law to launch a campaign to deport anyone whose beliefs they don’t like. This rarely-used provision, which a federal judge had once found to be unconstitutional, is being weaponized to try and deport someone for violating an alleged foreign policy that did not even exist when he was exercising his Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of speech. That is the definition of arbitrary and capricious. This assault on the Constitution should be rejected by the courts and we should all stand up against this kind of abuse of power.”