Stanford Paper Sues Trump Administration Over Deportation Fears

Stanford University’s independent student newspaper sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, citing fears of deportation for noncitizen reporters at the Stanford Daily.

Two of the Stanford Daily’s writers, who are international students, say that they have refrained from reporting on campus protests, vigils and other events related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza out of fears that their visas would be revoked. The students, who are not identified, say that creates a chilling effect on their free speech rights. 

“Writers present on student visas are declining assignments related to the conflict in the Middle East, worried that even reporting on the conflict will endanger their lawful immigration status,” according to the lawsuit, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in federal court in San Jose, California.

The Departments of State and Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to requests to comment.

The lawsuit challenges a section of immigration law that the government has said allows it to deport noncitizens if the Secretary of State determines them to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy. That’s the same law that the government is using as it attempts to deport several students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, including Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil. 

“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 complaint argues.

The case is Stanford Daily v. Rubio, Case No. 25-cv-06618, US District Court, Northern District of California . 

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