America Just Deported Its First Substack Journalist for Telling the Truth

Alistair Kitchen's ordeal caps a systematic assault on press freedom that's reshaping American journalism

The border agent was waiting for

Alistair Kitchen

when his plane touched down at LAX. No mystery, no confusion about why the Australian writer had been pulled from the customs line. Officer Martinez was direct: "It's because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University."

Kitchen, who documented Columbia student protests on his Substack while completing his MFA, became the first journalist deported from America explicitly for his published work. His twelve-hour ordeal represents the culmination of a multifaceted assault on journalism that's transforming America's media landscape through intimidation, corporate pressure, and systematic exclusion.

Alistair KItchen

Systemic Attack on The Media

Kitchen's deportation didn't happen in isolation. It follows a pattern of escalating attacks on press freedom that reveals the scope of the administration's strategy. CBS News President Wendy McMahon just resigned after clashing with executives over 60 Minutes coverage, while the show's executive producer Bill Owens was forced out for defending editorial independence against corporate interference driven by Trump's $20 billion lawsuit. Terry Moran was fired from ABC News for calling Stephen Miller a "world-class hater." The Associated Press lost its guaranteed position in the White House press pool, reduced to competing for access like any other outlet.

Even more disturbing: journalists covering immigration protests in Los Angeles were systematically shot with rubber bullets and detained while doing their jobs. Multiple reporters required emergency surgery after being targeted by law enforcement using "less lethal" munitions. The message was unmistakable—document government actions at your own peril.

Surveillance State Enters the Fourth Estate

Kitchen's interrogation reveals the technological sophistication behind these attacks. CBP had prepared for him weeks before his arrival through advanced surveillance systems that cross-reference visa applications with social media content. Companies like Palantir provide the data mining capabilities that enable authorities to screen visitors for ideological purity before they board planes. Kitchen's ESTA application had triggered analysis of his work, marking him for exclusion long before he traveled.

When political interrogation failed to produce grounds for deportation, CBP agents resorted to trumped-up drug charges—claiming they'd found "evidence of drug use" on his phone. Kitchen had purchased legal THC gummies in New York, where marijuana is legal, but CBP used this to justify deportation under federal drug laws. The tactic mirrors authoritarian regimes that fabricate criminal charges when they can't prosecute speech directly.

First Known Substack Writer To Face Deportation

This systematic assault extends beyond individual journalists to the infrastructure of independent media. Substack, one of the few remaining platforms for independent journalism, is now a target of state surveillance. The pressure on traditional outlets has created an environment where self-censorship becomes survival strategy, is that our new reality on Substack?

Kitchen's deportation exposes America's transformation into exactly the kind of country its citizens once fled—where journalists face political loyalty tests, where border agents conduct ideological screenings, where truth-telling becomes grounds for exile. As Trump weighs up an attack plan to liberate a country for its oppression, he is turning America into exactly the same type of autocracy.

For journalists who regularly travel to America, Kitchen's case creates an impossible choice: continue honest reporting and risk exclusion, or self-censor to maintain access. The chilling effect extends far beyond American borders, turning immigration law into a global censorship mechanism.

The test for American journalism is immediate: will news organizations defend Kitchen's right to report freely, or normalize his deportation through silence? Their response will determine whether press freedom retains any meaning in the land of the free—or whether democracy dies not with a bang, but with a stamped deportation order.