On Tuesday, a federal appeals court of the United States of America upheld the Trump administration’s gag order on its immigrant Detention Centers. This order prevents employees of detention centers from speaking to the media and other outside entities, which includes Congress and their attorneys, about the conditions within the centers. The ruling, which was seen as a blow to the free speech protections of government workers, states that the gag order serves an important government interest in maintaining the order and stability of the facilities.
The appeals court rejected the argument of those challenging the order that the order violates the First Amendment rights of the affected employees. The court held that while the gag order does, indeed, restrict the speech of these workers, it does so in a way that is “reasonably related to a legitimate governmental interest” and “in service of a responsible governmental objective.”
In its opinion, the court also noted that the order applies only to employees of the detention centers in question. The court stressed that this was an important limitation on the gag order, noting that the government was not seeking to impose speech restrictions on employees of other federal agencies or other employees that are not involved in the function of immigrant Detention Centers.
The ruling, however, is not the end of the legal battle over the Trump administration’s gag order. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit that challenged the order, plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The ACLU has argued that the infancy of the gag order amounts to government censorship and violates the free speech rights of workers.
The matter of whether or not the gag order does in fact violate the Constitution is ultimately going to be determined by the Supreme Court. In the meantime, current employees of immigrant Detention Centers remain bound, under threat of disciplinary action, from speaking publicly about the conditions inside the facilities. This leaves Congress and other entities that wish to obtain information about the situation at the facilities with few options, as the vast majority of information in publicly available is coming from the government itself.
