Some agree with government policies. Some disagree. Some speak out. Some engage in protest.
Glenn Greenwald explains how all this fits together:
To me, it’s sort of like speaking out against US COVID policies.
Do Non-Citizens Have Constitutional Rights? The Founding Fathers Thought So.
By Ryan McMaken
Mises.org
March 13, 2025
Imagine a Japanese family. They are not US citizens. They come to the US each summer to visit family, go to Disneyland, see the Grand Canyon, etc.
They are pulled over for a minor traffic violation. They cooperate with the officer on the scene. Do they have less rights in dealing with LE authorities than someone who was born in the US?
Trump’s Use of Immigration Controls to Destroy Free Speech
by Jacob G. Hornberger
March 13, 2025
“Let’s remind ourselves of some important points about free speech.”
“Freedom of speech is not a privilege that comes from the federal government or even from the Constitution, which is the document that called the federal government into existence. It is a fundamental, natural, God-given right that precedes the existence of government. As Jefferson pointed out in the Declaration of Independence, liberty adheres to all people, not just to American citizens. Thus, the First Amendment doesn’t give people freedom of speech; instead, it prohibits the federal government from infringing on freedom of speech.”
“Freedom of speech entails the right to say whatever a person wants, no matter how ugly, despicable, and unpopular it might be. When people are free to say only what is officially approved by government, they are not free. It is only when people are free to say anything they want that they can be considered free.”
“Thus, everyone — Americans and foreigners alike — have the absolute right under genuine principles of freedom of speech to criticize and condemn Israel, Jews, the Vatican, Catholics, Muslims, blacks, Italians, Asians, gays, or anyone else to their heart’s content. They have the right to question the Holocaust and claim that Hitler didn’t kill one single Jew. They have the right to question the legality by which the state of Israel was formed and also the right to question the legality by which the United States acquired the northern half of Mexico.”
“In fact, people also have the right to advocate terrorism, mass killings, and serial killings and to openly praise terrorists, mass killers, and serial killers. They have the right to praise the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. They also have the right to celebrate the U.S. government’s torture of people at Guantanamo Bay and the CIA’s and Pentagon’s state-sponsored assassinations of both Americans and foreigners.”
JFK speaks about the role of the press and voices of dissent in a free society: