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 A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully targeted pro-Palestinian protesters, violating their constitutional rights through deportation efforts and surveillance campaigns.

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration violated the U.S. Constitution by adopting a covert policy of revoking visas, detaining, and attempting to deport foreign students and academics who engaged in pro-Palestinian advocacy on American campuses.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Young, sitting in Boston, found that the administration’s actions unlawfully chilled free speech protected under the First Amendment, striking at the heart of academic freedom and campus debate. His ruling sided with university faculty associations that accused the government of using immigration law as a weapon to suppress dissent.

Judge Young, a longtime federal judge appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, concluded that the administration’s practices created a climate of fear that discouraged international students and scholars from participating in political discussion about the Israel–Palestine conflict.

The case was brought by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and its chapters at Harvard, Rutgers, and New York University, alongside the Middle East Studies Association. They argued that the Trump administration deliberately singled out foreign students and faculty for their political views, violating both the First Amendment and academic norms of free inquiry.

“The administration’s actions amount to retaliation against individuals for their political speech,” 

the plaintiffs argued, noting that hundreds of visas were revoked and multiple students detained in recent months.

The lawsuit followed the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia University, who became the first high-profile target under Trump’s policy to deport non-citizens critical of Israel.

Another case involved Rumeysa Ozturk, a student at Tufts University, who was seized in Massachusetts by plainclothes agents after co-authoring an op-ed criticizing her university’s handling of protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. Judges later ordered her release, finding her detention retaliatory and unconstitutional.

Faculty groups say these arrests were not isolated but part of a broader campaign to punish foreign students for participating in pro-Palestinian protests that swept U.S. campuses following Israel’s military response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

The crackdown, the lawsuit claims, was rooted in a series of executive orders Trump signed in January 2024. Those orders directed federal agencies to “vigorously combat anti-Semitism” and protect U.S. citizens from non-citizens who “espouse hateful ideology.” Critics argue that the vague language of the directives provided cover for an ideological purge of students sympathetic to Palestinians.

Lawyers for the Trump Department of Justice denied the existence of an “ideological deportation policy.” They argued that the administration was merely exercising broad statutory powers to enforce immigration law in the interest of national security and the protection of Jewish students facing threats and harassment on campuses.

The government insisted that visa revocations and arrests were based on legitimate security concerns, not retaliation against political expression.

Judge Young’s ruling addressed the legality of the alleged policy but did not yet impose remedies. He indicated that the next phase of the case would determine whether the court would formally block the administration from continuing the practice of targeting pro-Palestinian voices.

Lawyers for the faculty associations have urged him to issue a nationwide injunction barring federal agencies from threatening or deporting foreign students on the basis of political speech.

The decision highlights a growing clash between immigration enforcement and constitutional protections for free speech, especially in the highly polarized environment of the Israel–Gaza conflict. It also underscores the vulnerability of international students and academics, who often face additional risks due to their immigration status.

Civil liberties advocates say the ruling is a landmark moment for protecting academic freedom and dissent in the United States, while critics of the decision argue it could weaken efforts to address antisemitism and campus unrest.

For now, Judge Young’s ruling sends a strong message: the government cannot weaponize immigration law to silence speech it dislikes, even under the banner of national security.