Judge strikes down Trump’s deportation of anti-Israel protesters, citing First Amendment

On Tuesday, a federal judge declared the Trump administration’s efforts to deport international anti-Israel protesters on college campuses in the U.S. unconstitutional.

The court found that non-citizens lawfully present in the U.S. have the same First Amendment free speech and assembly rights as citizens, according to the ruling.

Further, the ruling states officials mischaracterized protected political discourse as “antisemitic,” creating a widespread chilling effect on academic freedom and protest rights.

“There was no ideological deportation policy,” U.S. District Judge William Young wrote. 

“It was never the Secretaries’ [Marco Rubio, of the Department of State, and Kristi Noem, of the Department of Homeland Security] immediate intention to deport all pro-Palestinian non-citizens for that obvious First Amendment violation, that could have raised a major outcry,” he wrote. 

“Rather, the intent of the Secretaries was more invidious—to target a few for speaking out and then use the full rigor of the Immigration and Nationality Act (in ways it had never been used before) to have them publicly deported with the goal of tamping down pro-Palestinian student protests and terrorizing similarly situated non-citizen (and other) pro-Palestinians into silence because their views were unwelcome,” the judge wrote. 

The case arose from two executive orders called “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” and “Protecting American Citizens from Foreign Terrorist Sympathizers,” the ruling states. 

The Trump administration used these mandates to investigate and deport non-citizens for allegedly supporting terrorism via speech such as protests and social media posts.

The lawsuit was brought forward by the American Association of University Professors, its chapters at Rutgers, Harvard, and New York Universities, and the Middle East Studies Association. 

The groups celebrated their victory with a virtual press conference held Tuesday, Inside Higher Ed reported. 

“That’s a really important victory and a really historic ruling that should have immediate implications for the Trump administration’s policies,” lead litigator Ramya Krishnan said. 

“If the First Amendment means anything, it’s that the government cannot imprison you because it doesn’t like the speech that you have engaged in, and this decision is really welcome because it reaffirms that basic idea, which is foundational to our democracy,” she said. 

The Trump administration has revoked more than 6,000 student visas, according to State Department data, The College Fix reported. 

The State Department recently told The Fix, “The Trump Administration is protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.”