Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Abstract

This article examines the complex and evolving intersections between immigration law and the First Amendment, identifying four doctrinal areas in which free speech claims arise prominently. First, it analyzes historical and contemporary grounds of inadmissibility and deportability based on speech, including ideological exclusions targeting anarchists and communists, and considers the continuing influence of the plenary power doctrine. Second, it explores retaliatory deportation claims, in which noncitizens allege that removal proceedings were initiated or accelerated in response to protected political advocacy, highlighting the chilling effects such actions may impose on core political speech. Third, the article evaluates constitutional challenges to federal statutes prohibiting the “encouragement” or “inducement” of unlawful immigration, focusing on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of these provisions in United States v. Hansen and the overbreadth concerns raised in dissent. Fourth, it addresses restrictions on noncitizen participation in democratic processes, including campaign finance limitations upheld in Bluman v. FEC, and situates these decisions within broader debates over speaker-based distinctions and sovereignty. Ultimately, the article argues that immigration law continues to test the limits of First Amendment protections for noncitizens and underscores the enduring tension between national sovereignty and constitutional speech guarantees.

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