Middle East Studies Association of North America | –
American Association of University Professors v. Rubio
A case challenging the Trump administration’s policy of ideological deportation.
BOSTON (January 22, 2026)—Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts today issued an order restricting the Trump administration’s ability to deport noncitizen students and faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy, in a case brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and Sher Tremonte LLP, on behalf of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA).
Ussama Makdisi, president of MESA, said, “We thank the court for its findings and laud the ruling, which affirms that the Constitution protects noncitizen scholars and students against viewpoint-based retaliation. The chilling effect of the government’s ideological-deportation policy must be redressed. We will continue to defend academic freedom that is crucial to our work as scholars and students.”
In a landmark ruling issued last September, Judge Young declared that the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and threatening to deport noncitizen students and faculty for their political speech violates the First Amendment, unequivocally affirming that “non-citizens lawfully present here in [the] United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us.” Earlier this month, the Knight Institute appeared before Judge Young urging the court to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing the policy. Young was first nominated by President Reagan and has served as a federal judge for over 40 years. He has described this case as “perhaps the most important” of his career.
Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, reacted by saying, “The administration’s lawless efforts to deport pro-Palestinian advocates has spread terror in our campus communities. Students and scholars shouldn’t have to live in fear that ICE agents could seize them from their homes merely for engaging in political expression. Today’s judgment makes emphatically clear that the administration’s campaign of intimidation must end.”
The order issued today formally declares that the Trump Administration’s policy was a viewpoint discriminatory effort to chill the protected speech of noncitizens in violation of the First Amendment. It also formally declares that the policy is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act, and voids and sets aside the policy under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
According to Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute, “Judge Young’s resolution of this case will stand as a powerful reaffirmation of principles that are fundamental to our democracy. The First Amendment’s protection extends to everyone in this country, wherever they’re from, and whatever their politics. By constitutional design, our government lacks the power to imprison or expel people simply because it disapproves of what they have to say.”
The order also provides that, in any district court case in which a noncitizen who was an AAUP or MESA member during the litigation challenges an adverse change to their immigration status, that action will be presumed to have been taken in retribution for that individual’s constitutionally protected speech, unless the government demonstrates otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.
Read today’s order here.
Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, added, “The Trump administration’s ideological deportation policy has had harrowing impacts on the lives of our non-citizen members. We are greatly relieved that the federal court has declared that this policy is unlawful and in violation of the First Amendment, and we are hopeful that the Trump administration will obey the court’s order.”
The court also released all public evidence admitted during the nine-day trial, including the intelligence reports administration officials relied on to target Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi, Badar Khan Suri, and Yunseo Chung.
Noam Biale, partner and pro bono coordinator at Sher Tremonte LLP, commented at the end of the case: “Over two weeks of trial last summer, we proved a conspiracy by top administration officials to violate the First Amendment and chill our clients’ protected speech. We appreciate Judge Young’s resolve to shine a light on this unlawful enforcement policy and to hold the administration accountable. We hope that his order gives immediate relief to noncitizen students and faculty across the United States.”
Read more about the lawsuit, AAUP v. Rubio, here.
In addition to the AAUP and MESA, plaintiffs include AAUP chapters at Harvard, Rutgers, and NYU. The associations’ members include tens of thousands of faculty and students across the country.
Lawyers on the case include Ramya Krishnan, Jameel Jaffer, Alex Abdo, Scott Wilkens, Carrie DeCell, Xiangnong (George) Wang, Stephany Kim, and Raya Koreh of the Knight First Amendment Institute; Ahilan Arulanantham; Michael Tremonte, Noam Biale, Alexandra Conlon, and Courtney Gans of Sher Tremonte; and Edwina Clarke and David Zimmer for Zimmer, Citron & Clarke.
For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, adriana.lamirande@knightcolumbia.org
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