A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration's policy to detain and deport foreign scholars over their pro-Palestinian views violates the US constitution, describing it as an intentional attempt to chill free speech rights. The ruling, issued by Judge William G Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, came in a case brought by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and other groups following the arrest of several non-citizen students and scholars who spoke out for Palestinian rights.
In a 161-page opinion, Judge Young wrote that non-citizens lawfully present in the United States have the same free speech rights as citizens under the First Amendment. 'No law means no law,' he stated, referencing the amendment's prohibition on Congress abridging freedom of speech. The plaintiffs had accused the government of running an illegal 'ideological-deportation policy' after President Trump signed executive orders targeting non-citizens who 'espouse hateful ideology' and to combat antisemitism.
The government denied such a policy existed, claiming it made case-by-case determinations and had authority to deport non-citizens deemed a threat to US foreign policy. During the trial, officials testified they were instructed to compile allegations, sometimes relying on dossiers from the right-wing Canary Mission. The case, filed in March and tried in July, heard testimony from scholars about the 'chilling effect' of arrests on campuses nationwide.
Todd Wolfson, AAUP president, called the attempted deportations 'a betrayal of American values,' while Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute hailed the ruling as 'historic.' The US Department of Justice declined to comment, but a State Department spokesperson said the US is not obligated to allow foreigners to commit 'acts of anti-American, pro-terrorist, and antisemitic hate.' The ruling is expected to be appealed, possibly to the Supreme Court.
