Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil meets with supporters outside Federal Court in Philadelphia
Judge rules Trump cannot deport students over opposition to 'Israel'
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- The ruling found that US officials retaliated against international students for their political speech and activism.
- The decision marks another legal setback for the administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests.
A United States federal judge has ruled Friday that US President Donald Trump’s administration violated the constitutional rights of international students by revoking their visas and attempting to deport them for opposing 'Israel's' ongoing military aggression in Gaza.
In a 90-page decision issued Friday in California, US District Judge Noel Wise criticized the US Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for retaliating against noncitizens over protected political speech.
“Stated plainly, in the United States, freedom of speech belongs to the people,” wrote Judge Wise. “It is not the government’s to take. That strength is diminished when members of our society — citizens and noncitizens alike — must self-censor and ‘behave’ or suffer the government’s retaliation.”
Campus repression
The lawsuit centered on executive actions initiated in March 2025, when the Trump administration began revoking student visas and detaining foreign scholars involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy across US university campuses.
The crackdown intensified following the arrest and attempted deportation of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a key negotiator for student groups protesting against the 'Israeli' assault on Gaza.
Khalil, who is separately challenging his deportation, welcomed Friday's ruling on social media, writing: “No one should fear speaking up for Palestine.”
The ruling represents another legal blow to the US government's campaign to suppress campus activism against 'Israeli' war crimes.
A federal judge in Massachusetts similarly ruled that US officials violated the First Amendment when attempting to detain and deport international academics and students participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
