“Freedom Lives Hence, and Banishment Is Here”: The Weaponization of Immigration Law to Punish Political Dissidents

Abstract

This Note explores the long and bipartisan history of the United States government’s weaponization of the immigration system to control, exclude, and expel percieved political enemies. The near-unlimited power that the federal government has acrrued in immigration matters has been used since the Founders’ generation to purge the country of those whose ideas and speech are seen by the powers that be as threatening or subversive. This Note traces the arc of such efforts from the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the explusion of activists under President Trump. The Note also examines attempts to force the courts to provide a check against retaliatory deportations and the judicial branch’s consistent refusal to accept any such responsibility. The piece concludes by reviewing two recent suits aiming to fight retaliatory deportations and noting the threat to the civil rights of all Americans – including citizens – that the repression of immigrants’ speech rights augurs