Astudent-run newspaper, The Stanford Daily, at Stanford University has sued United States President Donald Trump over attempts to deport international students based on their political speech.
Filed in the Northern District of California, the lawsuit also lists Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem as defendants.
It challenges the Trump administration’s use of the Immigration and Nationality Act to revoke visas or deport noncitizens for expressing views that the administration finds objectionable, The Washington Post reports.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration are trying to turn the inalienable human right of free speech into a privilege contingent upon the whims of a federal bureaucrat, triggering deportation proceedings against noncitizens residing lawfully in this country for their protected political speech regarding American and Israeli foreign policy,” the lawsuit says.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed the lawsuit on behalf of The Stanford Daily and two former unnamed students. It argues that fear of deportation has chilled journalistic work and campus speech.
The Stanford Daily alleges its ability to do news and opinion journalism, the core of its mission, has been hindered by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
According to the lawsuit, one student reporter resigned from the paper, while others have refused to publish their work, requested the removal of their bylines, or petitioned for entire articles to be taken down.
If the administration were targeting people who actually committed crimes, who actually committed deportable offenses, we would be having a very different conversation,” said Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising senior attorney at FIRE.
“But this is an administration that is brazenly going after law-abiding noncitizens for doing nothing more than voicing an opinion that the government of the day doesn’t like.”
A senior official from the State Department declined to comment on the case, stating, “We direct you to the Secretary’s statements regarding the obligations of visa holders and other aliens to comply with U.S. law.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump officials have been accused of targeting students who criticised Israel’s war in Gaza. At least 100 students have reportedly been surveilled, with some detained despite not being charged with any crimes — including Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University, Rumeysa Ozturk of Tufts University, and Badar Khan Suri of Georgetown University.
Greta Reich, editor in chief of The Stanford Daily, said student reporters fear “being associated with speaking on political topics, even in a journalistic capacity.”
One plaintiff in the lawsuit, who is still on a visa, alleges she was listed on the Canary Mission website after sharing pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel views online. She has not posted since March, the complaint says.
The second plaintiff refrained from publishing a study critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, fearing U.S. government backlash.
He has since resumed commentary despite facing “danger of visa revocation” and deportation.
“Secretary Rubio and the Trump administration’s war against noncitizens’ freedom of speech is intended to send an unmistakable message: Watch what you say, or you could be next,” the lawsuit says. “Message received.”
