Immigration, AI, Social Media Intersect in Unions’ Battle With Trump Administration

Unions are suing the Trump administration to prevent the potential deportation of noncitizens who express support for Hamas terrorists or who celebrated the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, among other sentiments. 

In response to two executive orders by President Donald Trump, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security are using an artificial intelligence-driven social media monitoring program to identify potentially dangerous rhetoric coming from some visa holders. 

The plaintiffs—the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, or UAW; the Communications Workers of America; and the American Federation of Teachers—filed the federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York alleging viewpoint discrimination. 

The plaintiffs want a declaratory judgment and injunction to prevent the government from continuing what the lawsuit characterizes as “surveillance.” 

The lawsuit justifies the standing of the unions to bring the case by claiming, “Plaintiffs represent thousands of people whose speech is chilled by the threat of adverse immigration action if the government disapproves of anything they have expressed or will express,” the complaint says. 

“Many of plaintiffs’ members no longer express views remotely related to the topics the government disfavors, especially online where the government is watching, because the government has promised and proven that saying the wrong thing can trigger life-altering immigration consequences, particularly for visa holders and lawful permanent residents,” the complaint continues. 

In a public statement, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Friday after the lawsuit was filed, “The United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country; commit acts of anti-American, pro-terrorist, and antisemitic hate; or incite violence. We will continue to revoke the visas of those who put the safety of our citizens at risk.”

The lawsuit says Trump administration officials stated that views that could be flagged by artificial intelligence under the program, including “hostile attitudes” toward the United States, calling for the “overthrow or replacement” of American culture, “putative antisemitism,” as well as “comments the government views as ‘rationalizing, or making light of’ Charlie Kirk’s murder.”

The lawsuit also says the government would categorize as terrorism “support of Palestine, including through association with campus-affiliated protests.” 

One of the Trump executive orders says: “The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”

A White House press release about the order says: “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: Come 2025, we will find you and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

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