The First Amendment to the US Constitution says that Congress cannot make law abridging the freedom of speech, but by as early at 1798, Congress was restricting immigration to the country on the basis of the ideological beliefs of the people who wanted to immigrate. While the reasons for restrictions have changed over time, as has the mechanism by which they’re enforced, the basic principle continues to today. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Julia Rose Kraut, legal historian and author of Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States. 

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode music is “The Mask of Anarchy 1 (Strings)” by Victory Day from Pixabay in accordance with the Pixabay Content License. The episode image is "The Anarchist riot in Chicago: a dynamite bomb exploding among the police," by Thure de Thulstrup and published in the May 15th, 1886, Harper's Weekly 30 (1534): 312-313; image is in the Public Domain and is available via Wikimedia Commons.

Additional Sources:

• “Nationality Act of 1790,” Immigration History, The Immigration and Ethnic History Society.
• “Alien and Sedition Acts (1798),” The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• “The Alien Enemies Act: The One Alien and Sedition Act Still on the Books,” by Scott Bomboy, National Constitution Center, March 17, 2025.
• “The Sedition Act of 1798,” History Art, and Archives, United States House of Representatives.
• “Haymarket Affair: Topics in Chronicling America,” Library of Congress.
• “May 4, 1886: Haymarket Tragedy,” Zinn Education Project.
• “Emma Goldman (1869-1940),” PBS American Experience.