The organization American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to stop the deportations of student activists protesting against Israel.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against two orders signed by President Trump, which the group claims have “unconstitutionally silenced Plaintiffs and chilled protected expression, prohibiting them from speaking, hearing, or engaging with viewpoints critical of the U.S. government or the government of Israel, under threat of criminal prosecution or deportation.”
Trump’s orders titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” and “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism” are highlighted in the filing.
“Both Orders violate the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike by impermissibly restricting speech based on viewpoint, in violation of the First Amendment,” the lawsuit argues. “They also raise serious due process concerns under the Fifth Amendment by threatening severe penalties – such as deportation or criminal prosecution – based on vague, subjective, and overbroad standards that grant unfettered discretion to government officials.”
The filing asserts that the plaintiff is “entitled to First Amendment protection” as a “non-citizen lawfully living in the U.S.”
“This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections,” claimed Abed Ayoub, ADC’s National Executive Director. “The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception. By targeting and punishing students who have spoken up in support of Palestine—or otherwise engaged in lawful protest—the Administration’s extreme Orders threaten to silence entire communities and unlawfully single out international students who contribute significantly to our academic, social, and economic institutions.”
The lawsuit comes as the U.S. State Department launched an AI-driven program, termed “Catch and Revoke,” to identify and revoke visas of foreign students exhibiting support for Hamas or engaging in antisemitic activities. This initiative involved AI-assisted reviews of social media accounts, news articles, and government databases to detect such sympathies.
