I've been privileged to do lots of nonpartisan political work over the years, from doorknocking to overseeing university civic engagement programs and working actual elections. I believe any steadfast and sincere commitment to the democratic process should coincide with a similar commitment to the importance of free speech. In practice, such a commitment is rarely found.
My personal experience is that, as a person on the political left, free speech has been seen as an issue for the right to champion. For a long time, that was functionally the case. I've had many online and in life say that FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) was a legal defense fund for conservatives, particularly in education. This is not a view I've personally ever agreed with and as the pendulum of power rapidly swings we are seeing more cases in defense of those on the left. Please don't see this as a "both parties are equally bad" argument; neither have a good record and what is happening now is significantly worse.
Now that the Republican party has found themselves to be in power, once again without a majority of the popular vote but this time with a mere plurality, we can see that their claim to "free speech absolutism" has been a lie this entire time. Revoking visas of students, permanent residents, and anyone else whose speech they don't like. (More reading) They defend themselves by saying that they are visitors, but neglect to mention (or recognize) that they too are protected by the constitution. Even more disappointing is the fact that Marco Rubio used to be a huge advocate for free speech internationally. How times change.
From my own experience, international students are some of the most vulnerable in the education system. Not only do they have to learn and navigate American society, culture, institutional processes, and more, they may (and often do) also come from countries whose financial systems are sanctioned or ban people like them from accessing education. I personally know an international student who is unable to see their family for years because of overarching travel bans. If this isn't already difficult enough, international students now have to worry about having any opinion that is contrary to the stance of the United States federal government.
I think this vulnerability is precisely why the government is going after international students for their protected speech. They can act before the courts can react. Even more sinister, they are physically moving these students across the country to Louisiana, which is a part of the 5th Circuit court of appeals, so they can get a better ruling even though these students live in the Northeast. For those who don't know, the 5th Circuit is too conservative even for the Supreme Court. I feel obligated to mention that these arrests are functionally kidnappings. I do not believe that these actions will end with international students.
Freedom of expression benefits those out of power most, yet we rely on our institutions to uphold these rights. The path to tyranny lies in the fatal notions of emergency and exception (Important reading). We must carefully analyze the government's use of the word "extremist".
I've been left to wonder if any true commitment to the principle of free expression exists. I am not talking about the false-equivalency of no consequences on social media (that is why I believe in creating a blog/personal site anyway). When our government sees opposition as traitorous or treason and acts upon it with its full weight and power, what is one to do?
Brendan Trachsel © Copyright 2025