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Beginning with the Alien Friends Act of 1798, the United States passed laws in the name of national security to bar or expel foreigners based on their beliefs and associations—although these laws sometimes conflict with First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and association or contradict America’s self-image as a nation of immigrants. The government has continually used ideological exclusions and deportations of noncitizens to suppress dissent and radicalism throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from the War on Anarchy to the Cold War to the War on Terror. In Threat of Dissent—the first social, political, and legal history of ideological exclusion and deportation in the United States—Julia Rose Kraut delves into the intricacies of major court decisions and legislation without losing sight of the people involved. We follow the cases of immigrants and foreign-born visitors, including activists, scholars, and artists such as Emma Goldman, Ernest Mandel, Carlos Fuentes, Charlie Chaplin, and John Lennon. Kraut also highlights lawyers, including Clarence Darrow and Carol Weiss King, as well as organizations, like the ACLU and PEN America, who challenged the constitutionality of ideological exclusions and deportations under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court, however, frequently interpreted restrictions under immigration law and upheld the government’s authority.
Panelists
Julia Rose Kraut, historian and lawyer
Eric Arnesen, George Washington University
Julia Rose Kraut, a lawyer and historian, was the inaugural Judith S. Kaye Fellow for the Historical Society of the New York Courts.
Eric Arnesen is Professor of History at George Washington University. A specialist in the history of race, labor, politics, and civil rights, he is the author of two award-winning books — Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality (2001) and Waterfront Workers of New Orleans: Race, Class, and Politics, 1863-1923 (1991) -- and the author, editor, or co-editor of five other books. He is the director of the American Historical Association's National History Center and the co-chair of the Washington History Seminar.
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