The group representing university professors sued the Trump administration Tuesday, accusing its arrest and threatening non-citizen students and faculty protests on campus deprived U.S. citizens of the right to interact with their foreign-born peers and listen to their views.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts is a broader approach taken by other lawsuits challenging the federal government’s deportation policy on college campuses. The lawsuits, including two recent graduates involving Colombian students and green card holders, aim to stop individual deportation procedures.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday, challenging the Trump administration’s overall deportation method, saying it was unconstitutional.
The lawsuit argues that decisions against non-citizens participating in pro-Palestinian protests and speech have had a wide and terrifying impact on what can be heard on university campuses.
“Today, the government is following a pro-Palestine speech, but tomorrow can promote DEI or defend gender expression of gender care after a speech criticizing fossil fuels.” said Ramya Krishnan, senior chief of staff at the First Amendment Institute of Colombia, which represents the professor of the lawsuit.
“The theory here really has no limiting principles, and it’s an unsettling part,” she said.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the American Association of University Professors, a nonprofit organization focusing on academic freedom issues, with three chapters, Harvard, New York University and Rutgers University, and the nonprofit Middle East Research Association. The Knights Academy is an independent organization that does not represent the Colombian government.
The lawsuit depends on the First Amendment principle that Americans have the right to not only express their thoughts, but also to hear their voices. It argues that this is violated because non-citizens avoid political protests, clear their social media, and withdraw from groups involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. This is also reflected through self-censorship in the classroom, which is to avoid attention, the lawsuit says.
“We have spoken to teachers, who have revised their syllabus or decided not to worry about teaching certain materials putting the goal on their backs and therefore decided not to teach the entire course,” Ms. Krishnan said.
The lawsuit argues that the deportation policy also violates the Fifth Amendment, which ensures due process because it does not “a fair warning to non-citizen students and faculty members that the government considers to be justified by arrest, detention and deportation”.
The defendants mentioned in the lawsuit are President Trump; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem; and Todd Lyons, acting director of immigration and customs enforcement.
“In general, we do not comment on ongoing litigation or pending litigation,” the State Department said via email. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
