Opening arguments in a trial that is anticipated to touch on some of the most contentious topics in American politics, such as President Trump, Israel, and free speech on college campuses, will be heard by a federal judge in Boston on Monday.
The case, which was brought by two academic societies in March, has emerged as the main obstacle to the Trump administration’s harsh stance against international students who expressed pro-Palestinian sentiments. It argues that on the basis of the First Amendment, the government’s targeting of well-known noncitizen academics who have criticized Israel, including Rumeysa Ozturk of Tufts and Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi of Columbia University, has already partially succeeded in stifling political speech nationwide.
Even though their immigration cases are still pending, all of those academics—who are either in the United States on student visas or as legal permanent residents—have successfully fought for and been granted their release.
However, the associations’ attorneys, from Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, will contend during this week’s trial that the arrests were a part of a formal policy that could just as well be used against other groups that disagree with the Trump administration.
Although the Supreme Court has upheld the general First Amendment rights of foreign nationals residing in the United States in at least one significant case, constitutional law scholars have warned that there aren’t many clear legal precedents in American history.
The administration has claimed in its papers that pro-Palestinian protests represent a show of solidarity with Hamas, which the U.S. government views as a terrorist group. It has depended on Supreme Court decisions from the Cold War, where the court affirmed the government’s authority to bar individuals from entering because of their prior Communist Party membership.
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