The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is brief and direct: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
In this session, Vic Walczak, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, explains that those rights are supposed to apply to anyone living in the country, regardless of citizenship or national origin. But they are being severely tested by the new administration, which has cited writing, art, and involvement in peaceful protests as grounds for arrest, detention, and deportation.
With the "uncertainty, unpredictability, and cruelty of the current administration," Walczak says, it is hard to know to know how to advise people who wish to exercise their free speech rights. But he says he is hopeful that citizens will stand up and demand that those rights be protected.