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Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration Unconstitutional for Using Visas to Punish Campus Speech

The decision strips a key immigration tool the government used to target student critics of Israel, with appeals likely.

FILE - Students walk through the Stanford University campus, March 14, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
A rally in support of Palestine was held at the student encampment in White Plaza in Stanford during the interfaith demonstration held by pro-Israel protestors on May 12, 2024. Stanford's student newspaper sued the Trump administration for threatening to deport noncitizens who criticized Israel or U.S. foreign policy. 
Mahmoud Khalil addresses a crowd of graduates at "The People's Commencement" ceremony on June 14, 2026. Photo by Gennady Sheyner
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Overview

  • A federal judge in San Jose ruled on Friday that provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as applied by the State Department and DHS, violated the First and Fifth Amendments when used to cancel visas or start deportation proceedings based on students’ political speech.
  • The court found Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s practice of revoking visas when speech was said to “compromise a compelling foreign policy interest” was vague and viewpoint discriminatory, meaning the government singled out protected expression for disfavored treatment.
  • The Stanford Daily sued in August 2025 after reporting that international student journalists deleted posts, withdrew stories, declined assignments, or resigned because they feared visa loss; the judge said those documented chilling effects showed real harm to speech and press rights.
  • Wise’s 90-page opinion relies on and expands a similar 2025 ruling from Boston, narrows the administration’s legal basis for its campus deportation campaign, and leaves open appeals and separate removal cases such as Mahmoud Khalil’s.
  • The ruling could constrain how State and DHS use immigration law against political speech, prompt appellate review from the Justice Department, and shift the immediate legal battlefield to pending appeals and related cases on campus enforcement.