OPINION: This is not a democracy — Trump threatens free speech 

It’s like something out of a dystopian nightmare — there has never been a greater threat to the First Amendment than now. Fear, threats and terror is now plaguing international students who wish to speak out on the Israeli and Gaza war.  

Students have been ripped from their homes and campuses to be held in ICE detainment centers or back to their home country.  

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has already revoked over 300 visas, according to an article by NPR.  

“We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campus. We’ve given you a visa and you decide to do that — we’re going to take it away,” Rubio said in a news conference, defending his actions. 

A Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, Rumeysa Öztürk, was on her way to dinner on March 25 with friends when she was detained by masked agents dressed in plain clothing.  

Öztürk stated that she believes she was detained over an op-ed piece about Gaza she wrote in the student newspaper for the university. She is currently being held in an ICE detainment facility in Louisiana.  

An earlier instance was Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested in his university housing on March 8, despite being a permanent resident. He believes he was apprehended due to a protest he participated in about Gaza.  

Momodou Taal, a Cornell University Ph.D. student and advocate for Palestinian rights, had his visa revoked on March 14. However, the Department of State did not notify Taal until March 21, when they ordered him to surrender himself to ICE officials. Taal filed a lawsuit on March 15 against the Trump administration for unfairly targeting pro-Palestinian activists, following Khalil’s arrest. 

“This is what happens in a dictatorship, and these are test cases,” Eric Lee, Taal’s lawyer, said. “If the government can get away with doing this to these students, it can do it to everybody in this country. Your citizenship won’t save you… Your views will be next.” 

Taal ended up leaving the country voluntarily, and his lawsuit has been withdrawn.  

“The First Amendment applies to people who are physically in the United States, regardless of their alienage, regardless of what country they were born in, regardless of the color of their skin, regardless of their immigration status,” Lee said. “By saying that attending a protest makes one a threat to American foreign policy, the administration is admitting that the Constitution is getting in the way of the fight for democracy. Something is not right there.” 

Donald Trump’s team is stating that these actions are for national security, when, in reality, they are prohibiting free speech. This is especially true for international students who are here under the assumption that they have the same rights as American citizens and their rights should be just as protected.  

There are many other cases of students continuing to get their visas revoked and deported due to participating in and writing about protests.  

Just a week ago, two unnamed international students at the University of Idaho had their visas revoked. 

This started when Trump issued an executive order in January where he stated that he will revoke the visas of students who participated in protests that were deemed either pro-Hamas or anti-Israel. 

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-Jihadist protests, we put you on notice: Come 2025, we will find you and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” Trump’s order said.  

This sparked the “Hands Off!” protest across the country on April 5. The protests were planned for over 1,000 cities. According to an article by MSN, the protests were organized by advocacy groups such as the Third Act and Reproductive Freedom for All. 

The protest was formed after Trump’s tariffs were put in place causing an uproar of Americans who are tired of Trump.  

“If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save,” a “Hands Off!” mission statement said.  

While Trump may be trying to silence those who criticize him,– he cannot silence everyone. Hundreds to thousands of protestors gathered in the cities to show their unrest over the current administration, giving hope that the First Amendment still stands.  

UI has also had several protests since it was founded. From having a larger budget to rights, the art of having a voice and using it in a democracy has always been around and no president can ever change that.  

Freedom of speech has been a foundation of this democracy since it began. By stripping it away, there is no longer a democracy. At The Argonaut, we have always been For, Of and By the Students and will continue to exercise our First Amendment right.  

Without freedom of speech, freedom of the press and power to the people, we can no longer consider the United States a democracy, but the dictatorship this administration is heading toward.  

Andrea Roberts can be reached at arg-opinion@uidaho.edu.