A federal judge in California has ruled that the Trump administration cannot use immigration laws to revoke visas or pursue deportation against noncitizen college students because of their criticism of Israel or pro-Palestinian advocacy.
U.S. District Judge Noël Wise issued the ruling Friday in San Jose, finding that the administration’s use of federal immigration law against students engaged in lawful political speech violated constitutional protections under the First and Fifth Amendments.
The case was brought by The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s student newspaper. The organization argued that international students working for the newspaper had begun censoring themselves, avoiding certain assignments or stepping away from their work altogether because they feared their political views could lead to visa cancellation or deportation.
The dispute grew out of the Trump administration’s efforts beginning in 2025 to revoke visas and initiate deportation proceedings against some foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Among the most prominent cases was that of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist whose detention became a national controversy over immigration enforcement and freedom of speech.
The administration had relied in part on provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allow the secretary of state to act when a noncitizen’s presence is considered potentially harmful to U.S. foreign policy interests.
Wise found that using those provisions against otherwise lawful political expression created an unconstitutional threat to free speech and left students uncertain about what they could say without risking immigration consequences.
The ruling does not prevent the federal government from deporting international students who violate immigration law for other reasons. Instead, it limits the government’s ability to use a student’s protected political speech — including criticism of Israel or support for Palestinians — as the basis for revoking immigration status or seeking deportation.
Wise emphasized that constitutional protections for freedom of speech are not limited only to U.S. citizens.
The California ruling follows a similar decision by a federal judge in Boston, who also concluded that the administration had violated free-speech protections while targeting noncitizens for their political advocacy.
The decision represents another significant legal challenge to the administration’s campaign against pro-Palestinian activism on American college campuses and could have broader implications for international students across the country.
Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; FOX16 News on X
By NJ RADAR Team