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Citizenship, Immigration and Human Rights in the Age of Trump

Par Amanda Frost : Professor of Law - University of Virginia
Publié par Marion Coste le 20/11/2025

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[Conférence] In her presentation, Amanda Frost discusses the revocation of student visas, the use of the Alien Enemies Act (1798) for law enforcement purposes, and the Trump administration's campaign to revoke citizenship in order to provide a broader overview of the state of civil liberties in the United States today.

Amanda Frost writes and teaches in the fields of immigration and citizenship law, federal courts and jurisdiction, and judicial ethics. Her scholarship has been cited by dozens of state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and she has been invited to testify on the topics of her articles before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Before entering academia, Frost clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and spent five years as a staff attorney at Public Citizen, where she litigated cases at all levels of the federal judicial system. She has also worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee, served as acting director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at American University and spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar studying transparency reform in the European Union. 

This discussion was organised by the Master "Parcours Migrations" at the ENS de Lyon on the 30th of September 2025.

Lecture

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Introduction: the weaponization of immigration law 00:00
1. Targeting international students 09:13
  • Detaining and deporting international students 
 12:38
  • Increased vetting of foreign students
 14:40
  • Revoking student visas
 16:10
  • Barring Harvard students from entry
 18:21
2. The Alien Enemies Act (1798) 20:50
  • What counts as an invasion? Who decides?
 22:50
  • Deportations based on the Alien Enemies Act
 24:28
3. Deportation to third countries 26:47
4. Destabilizing citizenship 28:24
  • Denaturalizing campaigns
 29:00
  • Threatening to deport Americans
 33:40
Conclusion 34:54

 

Discussion

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  • How and when do the courts defer to the President?
 00:00
  • How can non-citizens protect themselves?
 01:45
  • Is it advisable for French students to go study in the US?
 05:00
  • The courts so far have been able to block Trump's executive decisions; is there going to be a constant conflict between the judiciary and executive powers?
 06:30
  • Is there resistance to these policies and, if so, is it going to be reflected in the upcoming mid-term elections?
 10:31
  • Because Trump has done all of these actions through executive orders, and not through the legislature, can the mid-terms really change the situation?
 13:48
  • What is the "flood the zone" policy and how does it work?
 14:57
  • How important are racial questions in American immigration policies?
 17:40
  • Is there a deal with NATO regarding deportations to third countries? Isn't it against human rights?
 20:00
  • Do third countries have a say in these deportations? And how does Trump II manage to be worse than Trump I?
 23:05
  • Enforcing these policies takes manpower: do they have enough officials, and can the people on the ground, such as ICE agents, be liable to legal action?
 27:00
  • Is the US going through a constitutional crisis?
 30:53
  • Has the Supreme Court ruled on the "invasion" of the US by Venezuela?
 32:40
  • Do the courts trust the President regarding the Alien Enemies Act and national security concerns?
 35:30
  • Can we expect a more regulated executive power after Trump's term?
 38:11
  • Are your teaching and academic freedom considered detrimental to the US?
 40:29
  • Birthright citizenship seems set in stone; how will the Trump administration try to undermine it?
 42:35
  • Do the debates about immigration laws retain a moral dimension, or are they now mainly based on technical aspects?
 46:10
  • How long can the Trump administration maintain this climate of emergency and crisis? Is it sustainable long term?
 48:13
Pour citer cette ressource :

Amanda Frost, Citizenship, Immigration and Human Rights in the Age of Trump, La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), novembre 2025. Consulté le 21/11/2025. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/civilisation/domaine-americain/citizenship-immigration-and-human-rights-in-the-age-of-trump