First Amendment Conflicts in Immigration Law: When Speech Becomes Evidence and Advocacy Becomes Risk

Session I – The First Amendment and Immigration Law: Speech and the Rights of Noncitizens – Thomas Berry This session examines how First Amendment protections for speech apply to noncitizens inside the United States and how those protections shift at the border and consular stage. We focus on what the cases actually say about who is protected, what level of scrutiny applies, and how courts balance sovereign and national-security interests against expressive rights. The session tackles practical questions lawyers face every day: speech-based immigration charges, government actions that may chill advocacy, and visa denials that burden U.S. listeners and hosts. We…