# Cato’s Berry: Court Right to Block Visa Retaliation for Noncitizen Speech 

Resident noncitizens owe temporary obedience to the Constitution

August 31, 2026 • News Releases 

On Friday, a [federal district court in California held](https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://zwly9k6z.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:*2F*2Fstorage.courtlistener.com*2Frecap*2Fgov.uscourts.cand.454120*2Fgov.uscourts.cand.454120.108.0_1.pdf/1/010001a058d39a5b-28b02d27-c7a8-4b0f-ade7-b31cb8a390d2-000000/wwiTDQUEjjCeQ90XstMuexznbUo=473___.YXAzOmNhdG9pbnN0aXR1dGU6YTpvOjA4Yjk1ZjJmZWFiNjc3MTZkZjA2ZjQzMTMwNjhkOTdhOjc6NTI3YTo2NzdmZjNhYzE2OGU5NDg4MjAxNGY3Y2VhMDc3MTkzZWI1N2M5MmMzMmYxNzQzNjMyZDFlMWYwZWUyM2U2MmVkOmg6VDpO) that noncitizens living in the United States have both “the right to freedom of speech” and “protection from government retribution based on hostility toward speech.” On that basis, the court held that the State Department may not revoke visas, or threaten to do so, on the basis of speech that noncitizens engage in while present in the United States.

Following this decision, [Thomas Berry](https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://zwly9k6z.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:*2F*2Fwww.cato.org*2Fpeople*2Fthomas-berry/1/010001a058d39a5b-28b02d27-c7a8-4b0f-ade7-b31cb8a390d2-000000/mQISMmzDldxKxhA0-pbDTv_Y7oI=473___.YXAzOmNhdG9pbnN0aXR1dGU6YTpvOjA4Yjk1ZjJmZWFiNjc3MTZkZjA2ZjQzMTMwNjhkOTdhOjc6YTM4ZTo1ZGMwZjU4NGQwMjE4M2IyZmI4MWQzNTQ1NTFhZjE4ZjEzYjhkNDNjZWM1ODVmMzFhZWM3NTU2YjNjZGRiYjRlOmg6VDpO), the director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, released a statement:

> The court’s decision was exactly right, and the principles it affirmed have been recognized since the early years of our Constitution. In [Cato’s amicus brief](https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://zwly9k6z.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:*2F*2Fwww.cato.org*2Flegal-briefs*2Fstanford-daily-publishing-corporation-v-rubio/1/010001a058d39a5b-28b02d27-c7a8-4b0f-ade7-b31cb8a390d2-000000/dCVhQEf7LycHkJNPFBEvczSxgUg=473___.YXAzOmNhdG9pbnN0aXR1dGU6YTpvOjA4Yjk1ZjJmZWFiNjc3MTZkZjA2ZjQzMTMwNjhkOTdhOjc6NDNmMDpmYmMwNjU5NDUyY2RhYTBiNmFhN2IyZWZlMDJjYjg1ZTU2MTA5OWRiODZjNzg1NTMxMDVmOTVjNjQzNzg1MGZhOmg6VDpO), we provided historical context by recounting James Madison’s persuasive case against the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1800. As our brief summarized Madison’s arguments: “Resident noncitizens owe temporary obedience to the Constitution; in return, they receive reciprocal protections. Among those protections are the freedom to speak and to express oneself.”
> 
> American higher education would be impoverished if students from abroad were not guaranteed the freedom to speak and write as they please on American campuses. And American political debate would be poorer if millions of resident aliens could not speak freely. The Trump administration should end its open hostility to noncitizen campus speech and agree to no longer threaten retribution for the exercise of First Amendment rights.”

To speak with Berry, contact Cato PR at [pr@​cato.​org](mailto:pr@cato.org).

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