Trump's war on free speech just got personal

Just as another judge conveyed his outrage at Donald Trump’s use of “staggering punishment” to silence his critics, the administration has begun exporting its war on the First Amendment. This week, the State Department announced that it is formally increasing “social media vetting” for all student and exchange visitor visa applicants. Enhanced “vetting” means federal employees will scourge the laptops, cellphones and personal devices of applicants seeking entry to the US on F, M, or J visas to see what they’ve posted, re-posted, engaged with, and liked on their personal Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram accounts.

The move comes on the heels of escalated attacks against universities including Harvard, where Trump went straight to cancelling foreign student visas on May 22, a move blocked by a federal judge on May 29. Trump not only hopes to cripple America’s most iconic and independent educational institutions, he seeks to infuse higher learning with Trump-aligned political propaganda.

Setting aside the ick factor of a bunch of suits poring over teenagers’ hypersexualized social media accounts, that Trump is employing the ruse of “antisemitism” to attack fundamental freedoms is an affront to Jews everywhere. Peace-loving Jews who are committed to personal freedoms and social justice don’t appreciate it. In April, 800 Jewish professors, scholars and students advised the Trump administration that targeting universities to impose a political litmus test “did nothing to protect Jews, and in fact, could be used to target them.” Twelve national Jewish organizations, including J Street and T’ruah, have warned that Trump’s use of antisemitism to justify suppressing political dissent threatens Jewish safety as well as democracy itself.

Viewpoint discrimination

When the government engages in viewpoint discrimination, it singles out a particular opinion, perspective or “viewpoint” for treatment that differs from how other viewpoints are treated. Viewpoint discrimination, where the government persecutes or otherwise punishes someone for expressing views it dislikes or disagrees with, is illegal.

In 1995, the Supreme Court explained: “When the government targets not subject matter but particular views taken by speakers on a subject, the violation of the First Amendment is all the more blatant. Viewpoint discrimination is thus an egregious form of content discrimination. The government must abstain from regulating speech when the specific motivating ideology or the opinion or perspective of the speaker is the rationale for the restriction.”

Someone needs to read that memo to Trump’s legal advisors, who, under the ruse of “combatting antisemitism” concocted Trump’s EO, “PROTECTING THE UNITED STATES FROM FOREIGN TERRORISTS AND OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS.”

Under the lizard-brain braggadocio of that EO, the administration announced its intention to “ensure that admitted aliens” in the US do not “bear hostile attitudes” toward the government. Given the depth and breadth of Trump’s illegal attacks against law firms that represented his political adversaries, mainstream media outlets that criticize him, and universities protecting academic freedoms, it is fair to assume that “hostile attitudes toward the government” means whatever Trump and his unqualified goons say it means.

Trump’s insecurities are churning

As Trump officials invade the privacy of international travelers by scrutinizing their social media accounts, administration officials are making it up as they go along. During Trump’s first administration, officials declared that, “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” but what constitutes “national security” changes by the hour, on whim.

Trump’s obvious goal is to impose a political litmus test under which only pro-Trump, anti-liberal, and for now pro-Netanyahu visa holders are permitted entry. People who criticize the war in Gaza need not apply today. Tomorrow, the ban will apply to anyone who criticizes Trump’s destabilizing tariffs, his efforts to accelerate climate change, or his unprecedented corruption.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed last month that the State Department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting “counter to national interests.” Despite campaigning on an isolationist agenda, apparently, Israel’s war in Gaza is now America’s war, because criticizing it is deemed “counter to US interests.” According to an Associated Press review, students at more than 160 colleges and universities have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated for expressing the wrong opinion, unprecedented aggression that has “stunned colleges” across the country.

Know your rights

As Trump spreads his thin-skinned efforts to kill the First Amendment, reports from non-student travelers are surfacing. Travelers report that they are “preparing for the worst” by deleting social media apps, destroying text messages, and removing identifiers from personal devices. After US citizens started reporting on TikTok that they were detained for hours on re-entry, an immigration lawyer’s video on citizens’ rights racked up more than 8 million views.

Reports of long detainments, deportations and higher personal scrutiny at airports are causing anxiety among US citizens. Americans who oppose Trump — over half the country — are starting to rethink upcoming trips, out of fear of being interrogated, detained, or worse when they return home.

While U.S. citizens can be detained at the border and made to feel fearful or uncomfortable, under federal law they cannot be denied entry or put into detention without reasonable suspicion similar to (but not the same as) probable cause. American citizens also have the right to remain silent to border agent questions. If a border patrol agent asks you for the password(s) to unlock your devices, understand that U.S. citizens cannot be denied entry for refusing to provide passwords or unlocking devices. However, your refusal might lead to significant delay, intense questioning, and/or officers seizing your device for further inspection.

As a US citizen coming back into the US, you may be questioned, have your luggage confiscated, and undergo intense scrutiny based on jacked up suspicions of a bored and/or power drunk border patrol agent.

But, at least as of this writing, US citizens who criticize Trump cannot yet be deported to El Salvador. Trump is working on that.

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Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.