In recent weeks, immigration in the United States has become an even more precarious issue under the aggressive policies of the Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ramped up enforcement efforts, arresting more than 8,200 people—three times the daily average from the final year of the Biden administration. This surge has spread fear throughout immigrant communities, deterring individuals from attending school, going to work, or even seeking medical care. Furthermore, the administration’s decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 348,000 Venezuelans threatens mass deportations and economic instability for thousands of families.
These developments alone present serious concerns for democracy, but they are not occurring in isolation. A recent report from Gizmodo revealed that the Trump administration has implemented a list of forbidden words at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Any academic papers containing terms like “diversity,” “climate change,” “social justice,” or “systemic racism” face the risk of being flagged or suppressed. This type of censorship is not only alarming for scientific integrity but also signals a broader effort to control public discourse by silencing discussions on issues that challenge the administration’s policies—including immigration.
Beyond the NSF, similar restrictions have been imposed across several other federal agencies, further stifling critical dialogue. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned terms such as “woman,” “women,” and “disabled,” affecting the ability of researchers to describe study populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has banned terms like “transgender,” “pregnant person,” and “LGBT,” erasing vital health information for marginalized communities. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has seen significant funding cuts and restructurings that deprioritize research on diversity and inclusion. Additionally, environmental agencies have withdrawn support for climate research, requiring researchers to alter their language to maintain funding.
The intersection of these two crises—immigration crackdowns and the restriction of language in academia—raises fundamental questions about the direction of American democracy. If immigrants live in fear of deportation and scholars face censorship for addressing social justice or systemic inequality, what remains of the country’s foundational values? A government that dictates acceptable language is a government that dictates acceptable thought, much like George Orwell’s 1984 warned us. The suppression of certain terms in research directly impacts public policy debates, stifling discussions that could challenge the justification for extreme immigration enforcement.
The ability to speak freely about social justice, diversity, and systemic inequality is vital in holding the government accountable. Immigration policy should be debated openly, with the voices of immigrants, legal scholars, and human rights advocates included in the conversation. If that discourse is stifled—whether through academic censorship or by instilling fear in immigrant communities—the result is a democracy in decline, where policy is shaped by ideology rather than facts and human dignity.
History has shown that restricting speech and persecuting marginalized groups are hallmarks of authoritarianism. The current trajectory—where immigration policies disproportionately target vulnerable populations while censorship dictates public discussion—suggests that the U.S. is drifting dangerously toward an era of suppression and fear. Whether democracy survives this moment will depend on the willingness of its citizens to resist both the silencing of critical discourse and the erosion of rights for those most in need of protection.
If the government can control who stays in the country and what can be said about them, then democracy is no longer functioning—it is merely an illusion maintained by those in power.
The post Immigration, Censorship, and the Future of American Democracy appeared first on Solow, Hartnett and Galvan Immigration Law.