The two memos were written and revised by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and top White House lawyers in the Trump administration.The two memos were written and revised by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and top White House lawyers in the Trump administration.During Donald Trump’s presidency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement considered the implications of expelling foreign nationals from the US for their political beliefs, newly unsealed documents have revealed.
One constraint in particular explored what could happen in the case of mistakenly including an individual on a watchlist. “There may also be claims against programs related to vetting that are targeted against particular individuals or groups, alleging that the targeting itself is on an impermissible basis,” the memo stated.
“In cases involving aliens within the United States interior – lawful permanent residents either inside or outside the United States, or aliens outside the United States who have significant US contacts, first amendment protections could apply.” If the policy explored in the memos had gone into effect during Trump’s time in office, foreign student visa holders and other foreign nationals could have been at risk of deportation for expressing attitudes that did not align with those of the US government – a gross violation of the first amendment right to free speech, say legal experts.
The news of the memos and its conclusions comes at a time when Republican politicians have called for the expulsion of some foreign nationals in the US who have been protesting against the Israeli war in Gaza in the wake of a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people and saw more than 220 hostages taken. The Israeli military assault on Gaza has now killed more than 9,000 people, many of them children, according to local officials.