Trump's war on the law and freedom of speech, for Israel

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US President Donald Trump is blatantly and brazenly bypassing the US Constitution, rule of law and due process to deport students for exercising their legal, constitutional right to freedom of speech and protest on campuses.

TRUMP VIEWPOINT DISCRIMINATION ON FREE SPEECH

On 14 February this year, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance scolded Europe for censorship and laws that “restrict free speech.” He warned EU officials against “crushing dissent, policing speech and infringing on religious freedoms.”

Boy…talk about the hypocritical pot calling the lackey kettle black.

When President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress on 4 March this year, among the many “accomplishments” to date he bragged about, was restoring freedom of speech. “I’ve stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America,” Trump said. “It’s back.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As Time magazine reported: “Trump has consistently rewarded speech he likes while punishing speech he doesn’t. That kind of “viewpoint discrimination” is exactly what the First Amendment seeks to prevent.”

MAHMOUD KHALIL

On 8 March 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) dragged pro-Palestinian student activist, Mahmoud Khalil from his New York City apartment to LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana.

Why?

Following the start of Israel’s unhinged genocidal frenzy in Gaza in 2023, Syrian-born Palestinian refugee, Khalil became involved in pro-Palestinian activism, playing a significant role in the Gaza protests at Columbia University last year.

He assisted as a negotiator for student members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) when they were bargaining with campus officials.

In a 2024 interview, Khalil described the movement as “for social justice, freedom and equality for everyone.”

According to his attorney, Khalil is a legal permanent resident in the US on a green card and has still not been charged with a crime. Khalil’s lawyers “have reason to believe” the White House is involved.

After his arrest, the government said it was invoking a rarely used section of U.S. immigration law to justify Khalil’s detention and eventual deportation. The law allows the state to deport non-citizens if their presence and activities are deemed a threat to US foreign policy and interests.

A District Judge has temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation by the Trump administration pending judicial review of the arrest.

In the days following his arrest, hundreds of protesters took to the web and streets of Manhattan and stormed Trump Tower in support of Khalil.

Since then, civil liberties organisations and academics, including members of the US Congress, have raised alarm at the detention of Khalil, calling it a serious breach of free-speech laws by the Trump administration and demanding his release.

In his first reported remarks since being detained, Khalil referred to himself as a “political prisoner.”

YUNSEO CHUNG

Another Columbia student facing deportation over pro-Palestinian activism is 21-year-old Korean-American Yunseo Chung.

High school valedictorian, Chung, a legal permanent resident who has lived in the United States since she was a child, moved to the US with her family from South Korea when she was 7.

Unlike Mahmoud Khalil, Chung does not appear to have been a prominent figure in the demonstrations that shook Columbia last year but was one of several students arrested on 5 March this year after a protest at Barnard undergraduate college.

The Trump administration is arguing that her presence in the United States hinders the administration’s foreign policy agenda of halting the spread of antisemitism.

Yunseo Chung is accused of having “engaged in concerning conduct” and was arrested during a “pro-Hamas protest”, according to a senior spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.

Her legal team was informed early this month that her permanent residence was being revoked, according to the court filing. The lawsuit says that immigration authorities issued an administrative arrest warrant for Chung on March 8.

According to Chung, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moved to deport her after she was arrested while protesting against Columbia University’s disciplinary actions against student protesters.

She is suing the Trump administration in the New York Southern District Court to avoid being deported.

In a lawsuit filed against President Trump and other high-ranking administration officials on Monday, lawyers for Yunseo Chung say their client was a victim of “shocking overreach” by a government seeking to deport her because of her political views and constitutionally protected protest activities.

The attorneys pointed out this was part of a “pattern and practice of immigration enforcement targeting pro-Palestinian protestors.” Their lawsuit claims “The government’s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny.”

On Tuesday, a Manhattan District Judge temporarily halted Chung’s deportation with an order stating she cannot be detained while she fights against her deportation.

“As of today, Yunseo Chung no longer has to live in fear of ICE coming to her doorstep and abducting her in the night,” Chung’s lawyer Ramzi Kassem said after the ruling.

Chung has not been detained by ICE. She remains in the country, but her lawyers would not comment on her whereabouts.

DR RASHA ALAWIEH

On 14 March, in defiance of a federal court order, a doctor and graduate from Ohio State University’s medical school was deported back to Lebanon despite having a legal visa and passport.

Dr Rasha Alawieh, 34, a kidney specialist from Rhode Island had been visiting relatives in Lebanon since February 2025 when she was detained on her return trip.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, while in Lebanon Alawieh attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah. She stated in her re-entry interview that this was for religious reasons, not political.

Federal Custom and Border officials also claim Alawieh had “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hezbollah leaders on her cell phone.

Since moving to the United States in 2018, Dr Rasha Alawieh has studied and worked on kidney transplants. Described by her peers as “an outstanding academic in Transplant Nephrology”, Dr Alawieh completed fellowships at universities in Ohio, Washington and Connecticut. She was hired to teach at Brown Medicine last July.

A federal court order halting the immediate deportation of the physician was issued on Friday, 14 March. Yet, in flippant violation of the order, Dr Alawieh was flown out of the country Friday evening. No reason was given to her family, lawyer and work colleagues.

RUMEYSA OZTURK

As I write this, another pro-Palestine student was just arrested in what was ostensibly “a kidnapping” by feds.

Chilling video footage surfaced on Wednesday 26 March of masked ICE agents surrounding and physically restraining Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University doctoral student, on the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts.

Ozturk looked terrified and could be heard screaming that she had done nothing wrong.

At a news conference on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that Ozturk’s student visa was revoked because of her pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Ozturk is currently being held at the South Louisiana Processing Center where she too faces deportation to Turkey.

And that’s just to name a few…

There’s also Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University. Momodou Taal, a doctoral candidate in Africana Studies at Cornell University. Alireza Doroudi, a mechanical engineering doctoral student at the University of Alabama. Ranjani Srinivasan, a PhD candidate in Urban Planning at Columbia University.

WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON? CRITICISM OF ZIONISM

On Thursday, 27 March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that another 300 students had their visas revoked or rescinded for participating in campus protests – despite questions and outcry about due process and First Amendment objections.

What do all these people have in common? They are all pro-Palestine and critical of Israel’s holocaust in Gaza.

‘THE GREATEST THREAT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS ISRAEL‘

Discussing this assault on free speech across campuses in the United States with Professor John Mearsheimer, Judge Andrew Napolitano said “It’s an attack on freedom of speech like we haven’t seen in this country and in many generations.” Napolitano said he suspects the Department of Homeland Security and DOJ are “doing a favour for the president’s Zionist backers.”

In response, Mearsheimer said, “The truth is, Judge, the single greatest threat to freedom of speech in the United States, at this point in time, is Israel – and its supporters here in the United States.”

He added, “It’s truly amazing the extent to which Israel’s supporters are going to, enormous lengths, to shut down free speech – not only on University campuses but all across the country.”

Maybe somebody should remind Netanyahu, Zionist Israel and their (Christian Zionist) supporters of something Voltaire once said:

“I may not agree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”