Should immigrants have the same right to protest as citizens?

Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student at Columbia University, left the U.S. on March 11, 2025, following the revocation of her student visa by the U.S. State Department. Her departure followed a raid on her campus residence by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who have accused her of being a “pro-Hamas sympathiser”. Earlier, on March 8, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist and green card holder, for allegedly violating his terms of residency by supporting a U.S.-designated terrorist organisation.

Should immigrants have the same right to protest as citizens? Here we discuss the issue.

Guests: Happymon Jacob, professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and founder-director of the Council for Strategic and Defense Research; Prabhash Ranjan, professor at Jindal Global Law School

Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik

Recorded and edited by Jude Francis Weston