A federal judge in the Northern District of California ruled Friday that efforts to deport noncitizens over political speech run counter to the First and Fifth Amendments, according to Politico. Judge Noël Wise, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, sided with the Stanford Daily in its lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The newspaper argued that Rubio’s use of the Immigration and Nationality Act to deport noncitizen students had led foreign students to refrain from writing opinion pieces critical of the administration. Wise wrote in her opinion, “In the United States, freedom of speech belongs to the people.” She added, “It is not the government’s to take.”
Court documents named another plaintiff as an unnamed woman who is a lawful noncitizen in the United States. The filings said she had previously been in the country on a student visa at a school that was not Stanford. The documents stated she “has refrained from publishing and voicing her true opinions regarding Palestine and Israel and has deleted a social media account to guard against retaliation for past expression.”
Court opinion and State Department response in the Stanford Daily case
Wise also wrote, “Here you can simultaneously hate the content of a person’s speech and love the country that cherishes the freedom to allow it.” She continued, “Zealous protection of our Constitutional right to free speech is a provocative demonstration of our country’s powerful lack of fear.”
A State Department spokesperson, granted anonymity to discuss internal thought processes within the agency, told Politico that the United States “is under no obligation to admit or suffer the presence of individuals who subvert our laws and deny our citizens their Constitutional rights.”
The spokesperson said, “More broadly, the Department of State is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.” The spokesperson added, “A visa is a privilege, not a right.”
The ruling came after what the article described as the administration’s campaign last year to revoke visas and seek the deportations of foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian movement.
Those named as subjected to deportation proceedings included Columbia University activists Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, Tufts University doctoral graduate Rümeysa Öztürk, and Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri. A separate court fight also covered a dismissed Harvard students lawsuit.
Khalil, described as a green card holder, was detained for more than three months after leading pro-Palestinian protests on his campus, according to the report. Mahdawi, identified as a lawful permanent resident, was arrested after he appeared for a citizenship interview. Öztürk was detained by masked agents in Boston after the State Department revoked her student visa because of an op-ed she co-authored criticizing her school’s response to the war in Gaza.
The administration argued their presence could harm U.S. foreign policy. The students and their lawyers said they were being punished for constitutionally protected free speech. The detentions prompted protests and pushback from Democratic lawmakers.
Demonstrators rallied in New York and Massachusetts, demanding the release of Khalil and Öztürk, while members of Congress pressed the administration over its actions toward the students. Another judge has also struck down an H-1B visa fee.
Conor Fitzpatrick, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which sued Rubio on behalf of the Stanford Daily, said, “In America, free speech doesn’t just belong to the people who say things the government agrees with.” In a statement, he said, “Today’s ruling proves that free speech isn’t a privilege, but the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child.”
Published: Aug 30, 2026 01:30 pm