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The lawsuit was filed in March after immigration authorities arrested recent Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil over protests supporting Palestine
The lawyers representing the Trump administration presented witnesses testifying that there was no ideological deportation policy as the plaintiffs contend (Image: AFP)
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration’s efforts to deport the non-citizens for protesting the war in Gaza was unconstitutional.
The Associated Press quoted District Judge William Young in Boston agreeing with several university associations that the policy they described as ideological deportation violates the First Amendment. The ruling came after a trial.
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During the trial, the lawyers representing the associations presented witnesses who testified that the administration had launched a coordinated effort to target students and scholars who had criticised Israel or showed sympathy for 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.”
The lawsuit was filed in March after immigration authorities arrested recent Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, the first target of Trump’s effort to deport non-citizen students with pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel views, Reuters reported.
The lawyers representing the Trump administration presented witnesses testifying that there was no ideological deportation policy as the plaintiffs contend, AP reported.
“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.”
John Armstrong, senior bureau official in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on longstanding immigration law.
Following this, Judge Young said officials of the US Departments of State and Homeland Security “acted in concert to misuse the sweeping powers of their respective offices to target noncitizen pro-Palestinians for deportation primarily on account of their First Amendment protected political speech”.
“They did so in order to strike fear into similarly situated non-citizen pro-Palestinian individuals, pro-actively (and effectively) curbing lawful pro-Palestinian speech and intentionally denying such individuals (including the plaintiffs here) the freedom of speech that is their right,” he wrote.
According to Reuters, Young, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, issued the ruling after presiding over a trial in a challenge to actions the administration undertook as part of the Republican president’s hardline immigration agenda.
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
October 01, 2025, 00:31 IST
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