AAUP, Middle East Studies Association, Knight Institute Sue Over Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport ...
Source: Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Press Statement
AAUP, Middle East Studies Association, Knight Institute Sue Over Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport Students and Faculty for Lawful Speech
Policy has created “climate of fear and repression” on campuses around the country, groups say
March 25, 2025
American Association of University Professors v. Rubio
A case challenging the Trump administration’s policy of ideological deportation.
BOSTON—The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in pro-Palestinian protests and other protected First Amendment activities. Represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, Ahilan Arulanantham, and Zimmer, Citron & Clarke LLP, the lawsuit alleges that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with.
Following executive orders issued by President Trump in January, the federal agencies that enforce the immigration laws have arrested and detained several people associated with U.S. colleges and universities, including a legal permanent resident, on the basis of constitutionally protected speech and association. Today’s filing argues that the ideological-deportation policy has created a climate of repression and intense fear on university campuses, “terrorizing students and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing political viewpoints that the government disfavors.”
The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute:
“The First Amendment means the government can’t arrest, detain, or deport people for lawful political expression—it’s as simple as that. This practice is one we’d ordinarily associate with the most repressive political regimes, and it should have no place in our democracy.”
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Lawyers on the case include Jaffer, Krishnan, Alex Abdo, Carrie DeCell, Xiangnong (George) Wang, Talya Nevins, and Jackson Busch for the Knight First Amendment Institute, Ahilan Arulanantham, and Edwina Clarke for Zimmer, Citron & Clarke.
For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, adriana.lamirande@knightcolumbia.org.
Read more: https://knightcolumbia.org/content/aaup-middle-east-studies-association-knight-institute-sue-over-trump-policy-of-arresting-and-threatening-to-deport-students-and-faculty-for-lawful-speech
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This morning, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. https://knightcolumbia.org/content/aaup-middle-east-studies-association-knight-institute-sue-over-trump-policy-of-arresting-and-threatening-to-deport-students-and-faculty-for-lawful-speech
AAUP, Middle East Studies Association, Knight Institute Sue Over Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport Students and Faculty for Lawful Speech
knightcolumbia.org
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