<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/30/trump-administration-immigration-palestine>
"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 and was designed to “intentionally” chill free speech rights.
The case was brought by the national American Association of University
Professors (AAUP); its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and
the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa), following the arrest and detention
of several non-citizen students and scholars who have spoken out for
Palestinian rights.
In a 161-page ruling issued on Tuesday, the judge, William G Young, a Ronald
Reagan appointee, called the case “perhaps the most important ever to fall
within the jurisdiction of this district court”.
“This case … 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,” Young wrote in the ruling. “The Court answers this Constitutional question
unequivocally ‘yes, they do’.
“‘No law’ means ‘no law’,” Young continued – a reference to the first
amendment’s stipulation that Congress “shall make no law” abridging the freedom
of speech. “No one’s freedom of speech is unlimited, of course, but these
limits are the same for both citizens and non-citizens alike.”
The plaintiffs had accused the government of running an illegal
“ideological-deportation policy” after Trump signed two executive orders in
January targeting non-citizens who “espouse hateful ideology” and to combat
antisemitism.
The government denied such a policy existed, declaring in court filings that it
was the product of plaintiffs’ “imagination” and that officials had made
determinations about each individual on a case-by-case basis. It also claimed
the authority to deport non-citizens who have committed no crimes but whose
presence it deems poses a threat to US foreign policy.
During the trial, the government’s attorneys sought to block the release of
documents detailing its processes and reasons for revoking student visas and
issuing determinations of removability for green card holders. Several state
department officials testified in court that they had been instructed by
higher-ups to compile allegations about the individuals targeted, sometimes
relying on dossiers from the rightwing Canary Mission, a secretive, pro-Israel
group dedicated to doxing thousands of pro-Palestinian scholars."
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
