Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s Move To Deport Students Over Pro-Palestine Protests
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit Saturday challenging the Donald Trump administration’s recent executive orders aimed at deporting international students and scholars who express support for Palestinian rights or participate in related protests.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeks a nationwide temporary restraining order to halt enforcement of two executive orders signed by President Trump earlier this year, shortly after he began his second term.
The suit follows widespread concern after the recent detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Columbia University student and permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, whose arrest this month ignited protests across various campuses.
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US government officials have argued that Khalil’s removal is justified because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has deemed his presence or activities could lead to “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio confirmed Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that the administration is revoking visas daily and expects more cases soon, emphasizing a stance against anyone who actively supports Hamas or related organizations.
“If you tell us when you apply for a visa, ‘I’m coming to the US to participate in pro-Hamas events,’ that runs counter to the foreign policy interests of the United States,” Rubio said. “We never would have given you the visa.”
The ADC lawsuit was filed on behalf of three plaintiffs from Cornell University: a British-Gambian PhD student on a student visa, a US citizen PhD student specializing in plant science, and a US citizen professor in Cornell’s Department of Literatures in English. The plaintiffs allege that their advocacy for Palestinian rights has placed them at significant risk of “political persecution.”
Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the ADC, said, “This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception.”
Chris Godshall-Bennett, the ADC’s legal director, added that the suit seeks both immediate and long-term relief “to protect international students from any unconstitutional overreach that stifles free expression and deters them from fully engaging in academic and public discourse.”
