Labor unions sue Trump administration over social media monitoring of visa holders

Three labor unions filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Thursday arguing that the federal ruling body violated the First Amendment rights of visa holders legally in the U S by using a activity to search their social media for specific viewpoints including criticism of the U S ruling body and Israel United Auto Workers Communications Workers of America and the American Federation of Teachers sued the State Department the Department of Homeland Defense the U S Citizenship and Immigration Function Immigration and Customs Enforcement This comes after the State Department revealed it had revoked the visas of at least six people over social media comments made about late conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his murder last month Plaintiffs represent thousands of people whose speech is chilled by the threat of adverse immigration action if the governing body disapproves of anything they have expressed or will express the lawsuit reads TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO VET LEGAL IMMIGRANT APPLICANTS FOR 'ANTI-AMERICANISM' AND ANTISEMITISMAdministration authorities have purported that foreigners do not have the same constitutional rights as U S citizens and do not have a right to hold a visa as the federal authorities seeks to target them for speech 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 vulnerability State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott commented in a announcement The lawsuit points to high-profile cases and the comments of federal representatives to argue that a executive activity uses artificial intelligence and other automated tools for surveillance of visa holders' posts and targets people critical of the Trump administration and what the governing body considers to be hateful ideology The federal establishment has broadly defined encouragement for terrorism to include criticism of U S aid for Israel and the Jewish State's military action as well as promotion for Palestinians The ruling body has used this as a justification to cancel visas FEDERAL JUDGE LAUNCHES SCATHING BROADSIDE OF TRUMP'S EFFORTS TO DEPORT PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERSThe unions' complaint cited the matter of green card holder Mahmoud Khalil who was published in June following months in detention after the leadership attempted to deport him for participating in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University The lawsuit revealed the immigration threats over views disapproved by the regime have prompted certain union members to withdraw from publicly affiliating with their unions at organizing events step down from leadership roles and deleted refrained from or otherwise altered their social media and online engagement with the unions This loss of engagement has harmed the plaintiffs ability to further their organizational missions and impeded their ability to carry out their responsibilities which include recruitment retention and organization of union members advocacy on behalf of union members and the promotion of civic and political engagement among union members the lawsuit commented Several union members have stopped expressing their views because the ruling body 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 reads Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January the administration has searched for online posts to target foreigners for the likely rescinding of their visa On his first day back in office Trump signed an executive order to ensure visa holders do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens heritage executive institutions or founding principles and do not advocate for aid or assistance designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national safety Over the summer the State Department reported it would start requesting that applicants make their social media accounts society for regime monitoring and that interviews with applicants would determine who may pose a threat to national assurance Reuters contributed to this account