A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration ’s efforts to deport noncitizens who protested the war in Gaza violated the US Constitution.
US district judge William Young in Boston sided with several university associations, calling the policy an ideological deportation that infringes on First Amendment rights.
“This case perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do,’” Young, a nominee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote.
The ruling followed a trial in which lawyers for the associations presented witnesses who testified that the Trump administration had coordinated efforts to target students and scholars critical of Israel or sympathetic to Palestinians.
“Not since the McCarthy era have immigrants been the target of such intense repression for lawful political speech,” Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, told the court. “The policy creates a cloud of fear over university communities, and it is at war with the First Amendment.”
Lawyers representing the Trump administration argued there was no ideological deportation policy. “There is no policy to revoke visas on the basis of protected speech,” Victoria Santora told the court. “The evidence presented at this trial will show that plaintiffs are challenging nothing more than government enforcement of immigration laws, reported AP.
John Armstrong, senior official at the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on longstanding immigration law. He acknowledged his involvement in revoking visas of several high-profile activists, including Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, and was shown memos endorsing their removal. Armstrong insisted that revocations were not based on protected speech and denied accusations of targeting individuals for their ideology.
US district judge William Young in Boston sided with several university associations, calling the policy an ideological deportation that infringes on First Amendment rights.
“This case perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do,’” Young, a nominee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote.
The ruling followed a trial in which lawyers for the associations presented witnesses who testified that the Trump administration had coordinated efforts to target students and scholars critical of Israel or sympathetic to Palestinians.
“Not since the McCarthy era have immigrants been the target of such intense repression for lawful political speech,” Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, told the court. “The policy creates a cloud of fear over university communities, and it is at war with the First Amendment.”
Lawyers representing the Trump administration argued there was no ideological deportation policy. “There is no policy to revoke visas on the basis of protected speech,” Victoria Santora told the court. “The evidence presented at this trial will show that plaintiffs are challenging nothing more than government enforcement of immigration laws, reported AP.
John Armstrong, senior official at the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on longstanding immigration law. He acknowledged his involvement in revoking visas of several high-profile activists, including Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, and was shown memos endorsing their removal. Armstrong insisted that revocations were not based on protected speech and denied accusations of targeting individuals for their ideology.
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