Given recent incidents and the likely reimposition of the travel ban, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is issuing an advisory recommending that foreign nationals in the United States who have been active politically consider taking extra precautions given escalating legal threats being pursued by the current U.S. administration.
These legal threats violate fundamental Constitutional protections, which apply to all persons inside the U.S. regardless of immigration status, including for free speech. As these clear Constitutional violations are being litigated and ultimately, we hope, halted by the courts, we believe many may want to consider precautionary measures to better protect themselves.
Specifically, we recommend all Iranian nationals in the United States who are not citizens – including legal permanent residents and individuals on temporary visas:
- exercise extreme caution when commenting on political matters on social media, particularly regarding the war on Gaza, Israel and U.S. policy toward Iran;
- for foreign nationals that have been involved in activism that has been critical of U.S. Middle East policy, consider further measures including locking social media accounts/making them private and deleting past posts; and
- consider additional precautionary measures including reviewing your rights, consulting with immigration lawyers, speaking with digital rights and digital security experts, and refraining from international travel for the foreseeable future.
We do not take this position lightly. Indeed, part of our organizational mission has been to activate our community for engagement in the democratic debate, including U.S. legal permanent residents and visa holders. There are many factors that have led us to take this position.
- First, Executive Order 14161 directs the Trump administration to review all individuals from nations that will be subject to heightened scrutiny who received visas since 2021. If individuals have engaged in activities deemed un-American, the order calls for their deportation.
- Second, Mahmoud Khalil – a Palestinian pro-peace activist and recent graduate student at Columbia University who possesses a valid green card and is married to an American citizen – was arrested by ICE despite not being charged with any crimes and forcibly removed and now detained in a facility in Louisiana, where he faces possible deportation. These harsh and arguably unlawful actions appear to stem directly from his political activism against the war on Gaza.
- Third, President Trump has vowed that the arrest of Khalil is “the first arrest of many to come.”
- Fourth, there are a nexus of individuals and groups committed to investigating, doxxing and exposing Palestinian rights activists and those deemed to take a position against Israel’s military operations or actions writ large. Much of their work involves documenting online activities from activists, which can provide them with dossiers to send to those in the administration eager to make examples of anti-war demonstrators.
We hope that these chilling threats to free speech and the security of many within our community do not come to pass, and that Khalil is swiftly freed after this assault on his rights and the Constitution writ large. However, even if the threat is small, we believe it prudent to issue these warnings and stand ready to assist anyone who is worried about threats to their free speech.