WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recently wrote to the Department of State, Department of Education, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raising the alarm about President Trump’s recent Executive Orders that institute speech-restrictive vetting requirements for visa holders and applicants. The Senators warned these orders could run afoul of the First Amendment and violate the Departments’ constitutional obligations.
“President Trump’s Orders purportedly advance these speech restrictions in pursuit of ‘combat[ting] anti-Semitism’ and ‘protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.’ Though commendable aims, these vaguely written Orders appear to direct you to exceed your statutory authority and, on their face, could restrict constitutionally protected speech. Through their implementation, they could sweep even further,” the Senators wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
“Congress has authorized the Executive Branch to protect the homeland from noncitizens who support terrorist organizations or advocate for the overthrow of the United States government,” the Senators wrote to Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter. “However, Congress has not authorized the Executive Branch to surveil students engaged in the free expression of ideas on college campuses. Nor could Congress have adopted such a measure without running afoul of the First Amendment.”
The Senators concluded: “We urge you to ensure Executive Orders 14161 and 14188 are implemented in a manner consistent with federal law and the First Amendment. We will closely monitor your implementation of these Orders, and, if necessary, vigorously exercise the oversight tools at our disposal to ensure compliance with the law and the Constitution.”
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14161, which directed the Department of State and DHS to promptly “recommend any actions necessary to protect the American people from the actions of foreign nationals” who “preach or call for … the overthrow or replacement of the culture on which our constitutional Republic stands.” That Order also instructed the Departments to “ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”
Executive Order 14188, issued by President Trump on January 29, 2025, directed the Departments of State, Education, and DHS to provide guidance to institutions of higher education to help them “monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to [grounds for inadmissibility.” It also ordered the Departments to ensure that such reports yield “investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.” The Administration released an accompanying fact sheet, which explained that any noncitizen “who joined in the pro-jihadist protests” will be “deport[ed]” and pledged to clear out college campuses that “have been infested with radicalism like never before.
Read the full letter to Denise Carter, Acting Secretary of the Department of Education here.
Read the full letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem here.
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