By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, Dec 25 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from detaining British anti-disinformation campaigner Imran Ahmed, after the U.S. permanent resident asked officials for an entry ban over his role in what Washington argues is online censorship.
Washington imposed visa bans on Tuesday on Ahmed and four Europeans, including former French EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. It accuses them of working to censor free speech or unfairly target US tech giants with burdensome regulation. Ahmed lives in New York and is believed to be the only one of the five in the country at the moment.
The move has sparked an outcry from European governments who argue that the regulations and the work of monitoring groups have made the internet safer by highlighting false information and forcing tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material.
For Ahmed, the 47-year-old CEO of the US-based Center to Fight Digital Hate, it also sparked fear of imminent deportation separating him from his wife and son, both US citizens, according to a lawsuit he filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when he announced the visa restrictions, said that he had determined that the presence of the five in the United States had potentially serious negative foreign policy consequences for the United States and therefore they could be deported.
Ahmed named Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump officials in his lawsuit, arguing that officials were violating his rights to free speech and due process by threatening deportation.
U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday, ordering officials not to arrest, detain or transfer Ahmed before he has an opportunity to have his case heard, and scheduled a conference call between the parties for Dec. 29.
Ahmed, in a statement provided by a representative, praised the checks and balances of the American legal system and said he is proud to call the country his home. “I will not be bullied away from my life’s work of fighting to keep children safe from the harm of social media and stop online antisemitism,” he said.
In response to questions about the case, a State Department spokesman said: “The Supreme Court and Congress have repeatedly made clear: the United States has no obligation to allow foreign nationals to come to our country or stay here.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
Legal permanent residents, known as green card holders, do not need a visa to stay in the United States, but the Trump administration has tried to deport at least one already this year.
Mahmoud Khalil, detained in March after his prominent involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, was released by a judge who argued that punishing someone over a civilian immigration issue was unconstitutional.
A US immigration judge in September ordered Khalil deported over claims he omitted information from his green card application, but appealed that ruling and separate orders blocking his deportation remain in effect.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Chris Reese)