On Rubio, redux

A somewhat less nerdy look at the powers to deport students for speech

This is in response to a comment on an excellent substack, Seeing Things by a New Yorker cartoonist.

Re: "Mr. Rubio has said that immigration authorities have the right to eject even legal residents from the country for protest activities that the government says harm America’s foreign policy interests"

He's actually dead wrong. The very statute he cites has an exception for speech that would be legal in the US by anyone. The only way he can get over this is by showing a that the the alien's presence in the US would ACTUALLY "compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest. (Without the free speech side the test is *potential* serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.) In the case without the exception, the Secretary of State has to have "reason to believe." To stop the exception, he has to "personally determine" it.

The immigration courts have in the past given deference to that "personal determination." This is presumably all tied up with "classified" reasons behind the determination. However, when he has STATED the "reason" he has used (the purported antisemitism") the court should look into how he GOT to that determination about a particular individual. How does a single protestor's speech compromise our interest in reaching a solution in the Middle East?? Pretty powerful that individual, yes?