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By using national security and immigration status as pretexts to curtail civil liberties, the U.S. may be providing a blueprint for authoritarian regimes abroad to justify their own crackdowns on dissenting students and scholars. The message sent to the world is that American “freedom” is conditional, and that the protection of the law is a variable rather than a constant. The backlash against the order has also highlighted the potential for increased polarization within the United States. Instead of fostering a meaningful and constructive dialogue about the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the policy draws a hard line in the sand, punishing those on one side while insulating the other from criticism.
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