Trump administration’s moves to deport pro‑Palestinian activists faced a judicial setback after a federal judge ruled the immigration tactics unconstitutional.
Immigration provisions struck down
The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Noel Wise in San Jose, California. She said the government’s use of immigration law to silence speech violated both the First and Fifth Amendments. The decision focused on two provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allowed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to render noncitizens deportable if he determined an action “compromises a compelling foreign policy interest” and to revoke a visa at his discretion. Wise wrote that “the government is singling out that speech for disfavored treatment based on its viewpoint or content.” She added that “This downward spiral is antithetical to our Constitution that recognizes our right to speak freely.”
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The State Department and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The ruling was similar to a decision last year by Boston-based U.S. District Judge William Young, who similarly found the administration had acted unconstitutionally by adopting a policy of revoking visas, arresting, detaining and deporting foreign students and faculty engaged in pro-Palestinian advocacy.
Campus activism hit by legal challenge
The arrests formed the basis of a lawsuit filed in August 2025 by Stanford University’s student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, which alleged that some of its writers with student visas had refrained from covering pro-Palestinian student protests and topics related to the Middle East conflict as a result of the administration’s policies. The newspaper’s counsel, Conor Fitzpatrick of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the ruling “proves that free speech isn’t a privilege, but the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child.”
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The arrests started with Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested in March 2025 and is fighting separately to avoid being deported.
Wise in her ruling expressed concern that the administration had moved on to target people for expressing other views it disfavored, saying eventually the “targets may include anyone in the United States who exercises their freedom of speech to simply express opinions the government does not like.” She also said that “members of our society – citizens and noncitizens alike – must self‑censor and ‘behave’ or suffer the government’s retaliation.”