The Stanford Daily newspaper is suing members of President Donald Trump’s administration over claims that Trump’s immigration policies have hindered student journalists’ right to free speech.
According to the lawsuit filed on Aug. 6, Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation et al. v. Rubio et al., many Stanford journalists are self-censoring their stories and trying to take down past articles associated with being pro-Palestinian due to fear of Trump deporting international students.
There have already been instances of this happening. Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student, had his green card revoked and was then placed in a detention center. According to an Economist article published on March 13, Trump later confirmed the reason on Truth Social, explaining that this was just the first arrest of students who are “engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression helped the students file a lawsuit against the federal government.
In an email to Anthro Magazine, Colin McDonell, an attorney on the case, explained that the reason behind taking on the case was to protect the students’ First Amendment right.
“We filed this lawsuit so that the government — whether the Trump administration or a future administration—cannot deport people for their speech,” McDonell said. “Nobody should be locked up or deported for speaking their mind. But that’s happening today. So we’re suing to stop it.”
The editors released a “letter from the editors” on Aug. 7. They explained their staff’s concerns after Stanford University announced that six students had had their visas revoked.
“When the publication of an op-ed is grounds to put a student in a detention center, it is clear that the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech are under attack,” the letter said.
They also urged the university to release a statement to ensure “the safety of students, faculty and staff.”
FIRE took on the case after they read The Stanford Daily’s letter, which expressed the newspaper staff’s distress by publishing stories advocating for Palestinians.
McDonell said, “We reached out after reading their [The Stanford Daily’s] letter from the editors, which discussed how international students’ willingness to write for or speak to ‘The Stanford Daily’ had been chilled out of fear that the government would target their immigration status.”
FIRE is hoping the lawsuit results in a court ruling in favor of free speech for everyone, including non-citizens.
“As part of that, we’re seeking the first ruling that the First Amendment prohibits the government from deporting noncitizens for speech protected by the Constitution,” McDonell said.