George Orwell, during the Second World War, wrote “1984,” giving commentary on life under a totalitarian, corrupt, and tyrannical government. It was supposed to be dystopian—with completely fictional warnings like “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.” I thought I’d never see his warnings materialized, but it’s looking like I’ll be proven wrong.
The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, meaning that not only do citizens have the ability to think for themselves, but they can also express their thoughts. Utilizing these freedoms, Americans have protested against conflicts, such as the widespread, student-led demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. It took more than 1,300 college protests throughout the country for young voices to be heard from government officials, aiding in the ending of the war.
Over 80 years later, this sentiment on protesting foreign affairs hasn’t left the youth. Students from college campuses across the nation have protested roughly 121 times in 2024 against the Gaza War between Palestine and Israel. One of these 121 times has been at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) on May 1, 2024, where pro-Palestine students, for the de-occupation of Israelis from Palestinian land, held a walk out strike against the pro-Israel government regime. A counter-protest, supporting the establishment of a Jewish country in Israel, was held during the same time.
Almost a year later, on April 4, 2025, UNLV released a statement that “four of our international students have had their visas revoked by federal immigration authorities.” There is no why stated; Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the state department, won’t release the rationale behind the revocation, but independent sources find it very likely that it’s because these students are involved with pro-Palestinian sentiment, both online and in-person. These students are only a select few from the more than a thousand who are in the same situation around the nation.
These “lunatics,” as described by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are foreign students who are pursuing education on F-1 or M-1 visas: one for academic programs, one for vocational training. These visas can be revoked for various reasons; the power has been left up to the secretary of state, a position dealing with foreign affairs that is appointed by the president. So when the topic of their visas being revoked with their free political expression, nowhere in those secretary of state powers does it give the explicit authority of silencing the First Amendment.
The ability to think, to make decisions for oneself is the fundamentality of our living as humans, as without it, we would be sacks of flesh wandering about like zombies. No matter the political belief, no matter the situation, each individual has the ability to choose the way they see the problem and how they want it solved, even those who are foreign and aren’t the typical citizen. Bridges v. Wixon in 1945 reinforced this idea when deciding that the U.S. couldn’t deport legal immigrants for their political beliefs and affiliations.
But when it comes to President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14188, this rudimentary right is in danger. The order cracks down on the lunacy of Anti-Semetic Speech by being Anti-Palestinian, working in tandem with the State Department’s “Catch and Revoke” program, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify pro-Hamas social media posts that “could be grounds for visa revocation.”
There should be no reason for these students to have their visas revoked, being pro-Palestine does not equate to being pro-Hamas. One could recognize the year and a half fight in Gaza and be against it, and also be against the terrorist organization in Hamas. It’s not mutually exclusive. So, when these legal international students are voicing their support for Palestine on social media, they aren’t supporting the establishment of terrorism, they are most likely supporting the survivability of Palestinian citizens. They are supporting the ability for them to live on land where they don’t have to wait for hours in a bakery line, or worry about having enough water to clean themselves. These students aren’t going out of their way to commit acts of terror against any affiliated party of the U.S., they are just making posts on their personal social media accounts calling for politicians to make a choice towards a free Palestine. Their thoughts on social media do not equal a crime.
In insidious irony, these visa revocations are beginning to mirror the early years of the “Third Reich,” aka Nazi Germany. Nazis, as a political entity, came to power during 1933, a time when the German constitution paralleled our current constitution in respect to the freedom of speech and press. One year later,it was already illegal to criticize the government, sparking the beginning of Nazi censorship which later led to Jews losing citizenship, and in extension, their rights, much like how foreign students are currently losing their limited rights.
To set it straight, it’s not a complete reenacting of Nazi Germany in the 21st century. A thousand and more visas being revoked is not equivalent to the 11 million that died in the Holocaust, and the United States is not equivalent to the totalitarian dictatorship that Adolf Hitler led. However the slow, terrifying enactment of the “Big Brother” that Orwell wrote about, one who sees all and punishes those who are out of line, is cause for alarm as it could very well lead to that tyrannical government.
