FIRE & co. file amicus brief against deportation of Khalil, ‘Canceling’ paperback hits shelves April 29, & more!

Bringing you the latest free speech news (3/23/25)

Stories of the week

• FIRE statement on Columbia University capitulating to threats from the federal government

FIRE is looking into the steps Columbia pledged to take in response to government demands, and their implications for free speech and academic freedom. But one stands out instantly: Columbia crafted its own definition of anti-Semitism that is vague and sweeping enough that it will imperil speech otherwise protected by the First Amendment. The federal government shouldn’t pressure any college, private or public, to censor speech critical of any country.

• FIRE and civil liberties groups challenge 'unconstitutional retaliation' against Mahmoud Khalil

The only court to address the deportation provision Secretary Rubio relies upon to deport Mr. Khalil reached a similar conclusion, holding the law unconstitutional. As that court explained, “If the Constitution was adopted to protect individuals against anything, it was the abuses made possible through just this type of unbounded executive authority.” (Massieu v. Reno).

• FIRE statement on the University of California’s removal of ‘stand-alone diversity statements’ from hiring process

As FIRE has long argued, requiring applicants to pledge allegiance to a specific interpretation of DEI too often becomes an ideological litmus test, stifling debate on inherently politicized concepts.

• ‘The Canceling of the American Mind’ paperback hits shelves April 29 (with updated data, reflections on FIRE’s 2025 College Free Speech Rankings, and an entirely new epilogue)!

This week in FIRE’s blog

• FIRE and coalition partners file brief rebuking the U.S. government for attempting to deport Mahmoud Khalil for his protected speech

• Trump’s attack on law firms threatens the foundations of our justice system by Daniel Ortner

• The FCC's show trial against CBS is a political power play by Robert Corn-Revere

This week in ERI

• The misinformation crisis isn’t about truth, it’s about trust by me &

  Angel Eduardo

This week on

So to Speak

• This week, FIRE EVP &

  So to Speak
  host
  Nico Perrino
  spoke with First Amendment attorney Marc Randazza and immigration attorney Jeffrey Rubin about the arrest, detention, and potential deportation of Columbia student & green card holder Mahmoud Khalil.

FIRE in the press!

• The ‘Free World’ Is Gone and There’s No Turning Back (Politico) by FIRE Senior Fellow

  James Kirchick

• American Jews must not give an inch on free speech — even when words hurt us (JTA) by

  Jeff Zeman

To be sure, it has been a difficult year for Jewish college students, and there have been documented instances of bad actors preventing them from getting to class, or even assaulting them. Title VI requires colleges and universities that receive federal funding to ensure discriminatory harassment does not deprive Jewish students of an education, and it is possible Columbia has failed that obligation.

But protest alone is not grounds by itself for a Title VI violation. And the government did not make sure it was punishing only actionable misconduct before canceling Columbia’s funding, like it is supposed to. The Supreme Court rightly set a high bar for conduct that amounts to discriminatory harassment that is supposed to ensure pure speech rarely rises to that level.

• How critics of authoritarianism are silenced in academia across the world (Democracy Without Borders) by FIRE Senior Scholar on Global Expression

  Sarah McLaughlin

London Calling: Ronnie’s First Amendment Roundup

• Bridges v. Wixon

Nothing new the last seven days jumps out so much as this 80-year-old Supreme Court case that’s captured attention over the week. Bridges, an alien who entered the U.S. in 1920, found himself in deportation proceedings in 1938 on the alleged ground he both had been and then was a member of or affiliated with the Communist Party of the United States, which advised and taught overthrow by force of the U.S. government and distributed materials to that effect. Under the law then in effect, past membership or affiliation was insufficient for deportation, and hearing evidence showed Bridges was neither a member of nor affiliated with the Party, so the dawn of 1940 saw his deportation proceedings end. But—in June 1940, Congress amended the law to allow deportation of any alien who was “at the time of entering the United States, or has been at any time thereafter” a member of or affiliated with an organization like the Communist Party. So Bridges was back in the jug on claims he had been such a member or affiliate, and even though it was found he had not been such at any time after entering the country, that one stuck—until the Supreme Court reversed. It cited Bridges v. California as establishing “[f]reedom of speech and of press is accorded aliens residing in this country,” and noted the record showed any utterances by Bridges were entitled to that protection as no more than “militant advocacy of the cause of trade unionism” which did not “teach or advocate or advise the subversive conduct condemned by the statute.” The Court thus reversed the deportation order, holding it was based on “a misconstruction of the term ‘affiliation’ as used in the statute and by reason of an unfair hearing on the question of his membership in the Communist party,” so “his detention under the warrant is unlawful.” As Justice Murphy noted in concurring, “once an alien lawfully enters and resides in this country he becomes invested with the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all people within our borders … including those protected by the First Amendment,” so “it follows that Congress may not ignore them in the exercise of its ‘plenary’ power of deportation.” These points were central to FIRE’s amicus brief in support of a recent Columbia student the administration is trying to deport, based from all outward appareances thus far on no more than his pro-Palestinian protest activity.

International free speech stories of the week

• Turkey restricts social media amid crackdown on Istanbul mayor (Bianet)

• Two men convicted of murder-for-hire plot against Iranian American journalist in New York (The Guardian/AP)

• Hungary bans Pride events and plans to use facial recognition to target attenders (The Guardian) by Ashifa Kassam

TV show of the week

• “Daredevil: Born Again” on Disney+ is great so far. Please, for the love of God, Disney, don’t let me down! (Yes, considering Disney’s track record, I know how ridiculous that sentence sounds!)