Julia Rose Kraut, "Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States" (Harvard UP, 2020)
How does the United States use immigration to suppress free speech? Should interests of \u201cnational security\u201d take priority over individual liberties? What happens to democracy when the most vulnerable are denied their right to speak and exchange ideas? In Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States (Harvard University Press, 2020), historian and lawyer Dr. Julia Rose Kraut argues that ideological exclusions and deportations are rooted in political fear of subversion \u2013 and the United States has used these exclusions and deportations continuously from the 18th to 21st centuries to suppress free speech.\nThe book explores the constitutionality of ideological restrictions and exclusions as interpreted by American courts \u2013 as well as the specific intersection of American immigration and First Amendment law \u2013 through a political, historical, legal and personal lens by following the lives of real people as well as key court decisions. The book chronicles the actions of those we know (e.g. Clarence Darrow, Thurgood Marshall, Charlie Chaplin, Carlos Fuentes, and J. Edgar Hoover) as well as some that we may have forgotten (e.g. Ernest Mandel, Leonard Boudin, Carol King, and Frank Murphy).\xa0At issue for Kraut is the essence of American liberal democracy and the rule of law. She fears a national identity rooted in fear of the threat of dissent and political repression rather than J.S. Mill\u2019s marketplace of ideas and free exchange of ideas.\nThe actions of the Trump administration on immigration have put a recent spotlight on this issue \u2013 and Kraut\u2019s book concludes with the Travel Ban \u2013 but she details how immigration law has been used throughout American history to suppress dissent and radical change. Beginning with the Alien Friends Act of 1978, immigrants in America have always had their First Amendment rights violated on the basis of their values, ideas, and associations. These violations are often backed by the Supreme Court as immigrants are judged more greatly on their immigrant status than in accordance with first amendment rights. Threat of Dissent systematically reveals the ways immigration law is used by officials to intimidate, threaten, and repress foreigners. Kraut unveils this, criticizing not only the damaging effect this has on immigrants\u2019 lives themselves, but additionally the overall damage this does to the idea of American liberal democracy and the overstep of executive power.\nThe podcast includes a discussion of the recent SCOTUS decisions on DACA and the recent passage of the NOBAN Act by the House of Representatives on July 22, 2020.\nBernadette Crehan assisted with this podcast.\nSusan Liebell\xa0is associate professor of political science at Saint Joseph\u2019s University in Philadelphia. She is the author of Democracy, Intelligent Design, and Evolution: Science for Citizenship (Routledge, 2013) and, most recently, \u201cRetreat from the Rule of Law: Locke and the Perils of Stand Your Ground\u201d in the Journal of Politics (August 2020).\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law