New 'Thought Policing' Bill May Let #Rubio Strip #Passports from #USCitizens Over Political Speech | Common Dreams

Stephen Prager
Sep 13, 2025

"#FreeSpeech advocates are sounding the alarm about a bill in the US House of Representatives that they fear could allow Secretary of State #MarcoRubio to strip US citizens of their passports based purely on political speech.

"The bill, introduced by Rep. #BrianMast (R-Fla.), will come up for a hearing on Wednesday. According to The Intercept:

:Mast’s new bill claims to target a narrow set of people. One section grants the secretary of state the power to revoke or refuse to issue passports for people who have been convicted—or merely charged—of material support for terrorism...

"The other section sidesteps the legal process entirely. Rather, the secretary of state would be able to deny passports to people whom they determine 'has knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.'

"Rubio has previously boasted of stripping the visas and green cards from several immigrants based purely on their peaceful expression of #ProPalestine views, describing them as '#Hamas supporters.'

"These include Columbia protest leader #MahmoudKhalil, who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) after Rubio voided his green card; and #RumeysaOzturk, the Tufts student whose visa Rubio revoked after she co-wrote an op-ed calling for her school to divest from #Israel.

"Mast—a former soldier for the #IsraelDefenseForces who once stated that babies were 'not innocent Palestinian civilians' — has previously called for 'kicking terrorist sympathizers out of our country,' speaking about the Trump administration’s attempts to deport Khalil, who was never convicted or even charged with support for a terrorist group.

"Critics have argued that the bill has little reason to exist other than to allow the Secretary of State to unilaterally strip passports from people without them actually having been convicted of a crime."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/rubio-thought-policing-bill

#ThoughtPolice #Orwellian #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #FreeMahmoud #FreeRumeysa #WaterProtectors #FreePalestine #LandDefenders #SilencingDissent #Fasicsm #Authoritarianism

New 'Thought Policing' Bill May Let Rubio Strip Passports from US Citizens Over Political Speech | Common Dreams

Free speech advocates fear a new bill could let the Secretary of State strip passports from US citizens based on their speech. "Rubio has claimed the power to designate people terrorist supporters based solely on what they think and say," one said.

Common Dreams
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has been released from federal immigration detention. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday after 104 days in custody. He said justice prevailed but was very long overdue. Khalil was released after a federal judge said it would be “highly unusual” for the government to keep detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn’t been accused of any violence. The Trump administration has filed notice it plans to appeal Khalil's release. The government says Khalil must be expelled from the country because his presence could harm American foreign policy. His lawyers say the Trump administration is cracking down on free speech.

AP News
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has been released from federal immigration detention. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday after 104 days in custody. He said justice prevailed but was very long overdue. Khalil was released after a federal judge said it would be “highly unusual” for the government to keep detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn’t been accused of any violence. The Trump administration has filed notice it plans to appeal Khalil's release. The government says Khalil must be expelled from the country because his presence could harm American foreign policy. His lawyers say the Trump administration is cracking down on free speech.

AP News
Joshua J. Friedman (@joshuajfriedman.com)

Judge: OK, I'm going to issue a release order. US magistrate judge, Judge Hammer, enormously experienced. I'm really hopeful that parties can just agree to reasonable conditions. But I'll make an order for release with time certain TODAY. You can work out any disputes through Judge Hammer.

Bluesky Social

#FreeMahmoud add from the (hopefully) future mayor of NYC, Zohran Mamdani.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0Kd-d2TEA

#ZohranMamdani #NYCMayor2025 #FreeSpeach #USpol

Free Mahmoud Khalil

YouTube
Fuck fascists and fuck the lazier psychopaths that enable them. They are worthless parasites at best and revolting demons at worst. They are not human, they are the enemies of humanity, and they must be dealt with accordingly. #FuckNazis #FuckMAGA #FuckICE #FuckLAPD #FuckPutin #FuckNetanyahu #FuckTrump #FuckElon #fightback #solidarity #FreePalestine #FreeKilmar #FreeMahmoud #FreeUkraine #FreeHongKong #freedomflotilla

#ZohranMamdani issues a video, on his campaign's YouTube channel, that does not contain appeals for money or for votes.

Free Mahmoud Khalil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0Kd-d2TEA

#FreeMahmoud

Eric Adams did nothing. Columbia University did nothing. We have at least some reason to believe that #MamdaniForMayorNYC would have done something.
#AndrewCuomo? I very much doubt it.

#DontRankCuomo
#RankMamdaniFirst

Free Mahmoud Khalil

YouTube
Bluesky

Bluesky Social