A new bill in Congress could allow the US government to strip citizens of their right to travel for criticizing Israel

A U.S. lawmaker has introduced legislation that could be used to restrict Americans’ right to travel abroad based solely on their speech, including criticism of Israel.

The bill, sponsored by Florida Representative Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would give Secretary of State Marco Rubio authority to revoke U.S. passports in the same way he has already revoked green cards and visas for foreign nationals accused of criticizing Israel.

Earlier this year, Secretary Rubio canceled the visa of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student, after she published an op-ed in Tufts University’s student newspaper that called for boycotting and divesting from Israel.

One section of Mast’s bill would allow the Secretary of State to deny passports to individuals determined to have “knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support” to any group the government designates as a foreign terrorist organization. Civil liberties advocates warn that the vague language around “material support” could be stretched to include speech, protests, or other forms of political activism.

Pro-Israel organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, previously argued that Students for Justice in Palestine was offering such “material support” by organizing campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.

The threat to journalists has also been raised. In 2023, Senator Tom Cotton urged the Justice Department to launch a national security probe into AP, CNN, The New York Times, and Reuters after those outlets published photographs taken by freelancers during the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in Israel.