A group of labor unions has banded together to sue the Trump administration in an effort to stop its social media surveillance of visa holders and other immigrants who are in the country legally.
The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s policy of scouring social media platforms in search of posts it can use to deport visa holders is an assault on the First Amendment. It was filed Thursday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers, the Communications Workers of America and the United Auto Workers, NBC News reported.
Per NBC News:
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, asks a judge to block the administration from engaging in ‘viewpoint-based investigation and surveillance.’ It also asks for a court order to purge any records created so far under the administration’s program.
The suit alleges that union members’ speech is being “chilled by the threat of adverse immigration action if the government disapproves of anything they have expressed or will express,” and that members have “limited their union-facing activity for fear of retributive immigration consequences.”
The Trump administration’s thirst for social media censorship — for visa holders and U.S. citizens alike — has been on display since the president’s return to office. The State Department has admitted to searching social media for purported expressions of “antisemitism” (a term it has used to demonize critics of Israel’s government) that it can use to deport people. The fact that the administration recently revoked six visas over social media posts critical of slain MAGA activist Charlie Kirk suggests that the administration will use surveillance against people whose views, quite simply, it disagrees with.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration plans two round-the-clock centers where federal staffers will monitor social media activity that the administration can potentially use as a basis for targeting immigrants, as I wrote about recently.
It’s notable in this context that Trump has said he wants to deport U.S. citizens, as well. And the Trump administration has also framed liberals as “terrorists” and vowed to go after groups that support them — which could very well make unions, like those suing in this case, a target.
Republicans broadly have remained silent on this blatant attack on free speech, despite having spent years promoting conspiracy theories, such as the debunked “Twitter Files,” that accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media companies to censor users. Nonetheless, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told NBC News that the government believes it’s in the clear with its social media surveillance: ‘The Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that aliens do not have the same First Amendment rights as American citizens,’ Pigott said in an email. ‘The United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country, commit acts of anti-American, pro-terrorist, and antisemitic hate, or incite violence. We will continue to revoke the visas of those who put the safety of our citizens at risk.’ In reality, the Supreme Court — to the extent it has addressed the question — has previously reached the opposite conclusion. But that the administration feels empowered to say such a thing shows how far Trump has gone with his assault on free speech, an American right he boasted about taking away just last week. Put plainly, this administration seems willing to use any pretext to silence any and all detractors.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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