BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A federal judge in Boston ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment rights of noncitizens whom it targeted for deportation because of their pro-Palestinian activism.
The ruling came after a bench trial in which associations representing members of college communities argued the Trump administration intentionally targeted students and scholars who spoke out against the war in Gaza.
The Department of Justice argued noncitizens do not have the same free speech rights as U.S. citizens. It also said some of the students it was targeting supported Hamas.
"This case – perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court – squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us," U.S. District Judge William Young wrote in his ruling. "The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally 'yes, they do.'”
President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons were all named as defendants in the case.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the ruling "disheartening" and accused Young of deciding to "stoke the embers of hatred" against ICE agents.
WBZ NewsRadio's Madison Rogers (@madisonwbz) reports.