Steve was quoted by Newsweek in Could Visa and Green Card Holders Be Deported? What the Law Says. He said, “There are many grounds of deportability, including criminal convictions, prostitution, domestic violence. One of the more obscure grounds that has existed for many years allows the Secretary of State to put someone into deportation proceedings if the Secretary determines that that person’s presence has serious adverse foreign policy consequences. That provision has not been used very often. I can only recall one time, or two times, in the last 30 years, but now we have seen at least two instances where this administration has invoked that ground of deportability, both to revoke those students’ visas and to place them in deportation proceedings.” Steve said that anyone in the United States, even without legal immigration status, has constitutional rights, such as the right to free speech and the right to due process, including having their case heard in court. Noting that the President has discretionary powers over immigration because the issue touches on foreign relations, he said, “This administration seems more willing to use these old deportation grounds that have been around since the Red Scare of 1950s as a way to go after people who do speak out. We’ll have to see whether the courts strike down these efforts as violating the students’ constitutional rights or whether they say that, despite the Constitution, the president does have the right to deport these people.”
