AFA Statement on Speech Rights of Foreign Nationals
After several high-profile examples of university students having their authorization to study in the United States revoked and of international scholars being turned away at the border, the Academic Freedom Alliance has released a statement on the deportation of foreign scholars and students. There are clearly circumstances in which foreign nationals can and should be expelled from the country, but the administration’s actions have had the effect of dampening lawful but politically disfavored speech on American college campuses and pose a serious threat to the international academic community.
Foreign students and scholars who enter in the United States, temporarily or indefinitely, do so on a conditional basis, and if they violate the conditions of their lawful presence in the country they can properly be removed. It is imperative that the permission of foreign students and scholars to enter or remain in the country be revoked only for the proper reasons, which do not include the mere expression of controversial scholarly, political, or social views. If foreign scholars and students are going to be able to live and work in the United States, to express themselves freely in public and to engage in the ordinary activities of scholarship and teaching, they must be confident that their status will not be put at risk by their engaging, alongside other members of the academic community, in the lawful expression of ideas that those with political power happen to find controversial.
We call on American government officials to clearly state that international students and scholars will not be removed from the country simply for engaging in lawful expressive activities, whether personal or professional. We call upon American government officials to clearly state the factual basis and legal rationale when visas are revoked. A climate of uncertainty is itself a threat to the free exchange of ideas on American university campuses. It is imperative that the government not only refrain from removing individuals from the country for exercising First Amendment liberties but also credibly reassure the scholarly community that the immigration laws will not be used to stifle First Amendment protected speech.
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