Trial to consider Trump's 'ideological-deportation policy' targeting pro-Palestinian students

Source: The Guardian

Mon 7 Jul 2025 06.00 EDT
Last modified on Mon 7 Jul 2025 14.38 EDT


A lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s effort to deport foreign students over pro-Palestinian views goes to trial in a Massachusetts federal court on Monday, where the government for the first time will need to defend its extraordinary position that it can deport noncitizens over their political speech.

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 noncitizen students and scholars who have spoken out on Palestinian rights. The government has claimed the authority to deport noncitizens who have committed no crimes but whose presence it deems poses a threat to US foreign policy.

Witnesses testified on Monday about the chilling effect of the Trump administration’s harsh clampdowns on university campuses, with professors describing how they have censored their own speech and activities despite Trump’s long insistence that under him Americans will have a robust first amendment.

“What the public and what the court heard from our witnesses today is about the powerful chill that the government’s policy has cast over university communities,” Ramya Krishnan, lead counsel for the plaintiffs told reporters outside the courthouse on Monday. “Noncitizen students and faculty on our university campuses today are terrified.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/trial-trump-ideological-deportation-policy-pro-palestinian-students