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Judge questions whether noncitizens have same free speech protections as US citizens

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As court battles over the Trump administration's revocation of foreign 
student visas heat up, a federal judge in Boston is considering the 
question of whether those in the United States who are not citizens are 
protected under the same constitutional right to free speech as U.S. 
citizens.

During a court hearing in Massachusetts preparing for a trial in a lawsuit 
challenging the Trump administration's student visa revocation, Judge 
William Young suggested that it is "not clear" to him that noncitizens 
have the "full rights to free speech" that citizens have, as the Trump 
administration attempts to use the speech of some international students 
to justify their deportations.

"I find that that's assumed by a number of my colleagues in related cases 
that deal with free speech in the lower courts, but I'm not clear that 
noncitizens have, I will call them, the full rights to free speech that a 
citizen has," the Reagan-appointed judge said.

"I'm hopeful we don't get to it in this case, but I don't see how that 
will work if a noncitizen has the same rights as a citizen to speak about 
these matters," the judge said, suggesting the question should be answered 
by the Supreme Court.

In March, the American Association of University Professors, the Middle 
East Studies Association and other organizations representing academics 
and students at universities, including Harvard University, sued the Trump 
administration, claiming the government's recent efforts to revoke visas 
and detain and deport pro-Palestinian activists have "created a climate of 
repression and fear on university campuses."

The groups have accused the Trump administration of "terrorizing students 
and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights," while the 
government has sought to throw out the case, dismissing the claim that the 
Trump administration is enforcing a policy of "ideological deportations."

The case is expected to proceed to a trial in July.

During Tuesday's hearing, Young stressed this is "truly a free speech 
case," explaining that both high-ranking officials, including the 
president, and their critics are protected under free speech, no matter 
how "brutal, coarse, demeaning" the speech might be.

He also specified that he considers pro-Palestinian advocacy and criticism 
of the state of Israel, as well as antisemitism, free speech because hate 
speech is not prohibited under the First Amendment.

What the court aims to find through the trial, the judge said, is whether 
the federal government committed any "retribution" against people for 
their speech to a chilling effect, which the plaintiffs claim and the 
government denies.

"We're going to have to figure out what happened -- what is it that the 
plaintiffs say is actual retribution against speakers?" Young said.

The judge added that he is also seeking detailed explanations from the 
government on its visa revocation, detention and deportation process.

"When we get down to the level of ICE enforcement agents … I want to know 
what was going on. Why were they armed or masked or not or identified or 
not -- all of that. What was going on and why? Who set that out? Who set 
up this business with the Mahdawi in Vermont?" the judge said, referring 
to the case of Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, who 
was arrested at a citizenship interview and was recently released.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/judge-questions-noncitizens-same-free-
speech-protections-us/story?id=121527141

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Judge questions whether noncitizens have same free speech protections as US citizens tom raley <tomraley@gmx.net> - 2025-05-08 06:56 +0000

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