Stanford’s student newspaper launches federal lawsuit against Trump-era immigration policies targeting pro-Palestinian foreign students, citing First Amendment violations.
In a bold legal showdown, Stanford University’s student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of weaponizing immigration law to silence and deport pro-Palestinian voices.
Filed Wednesday in a California federal court and backed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the lawsuit targets two controversial provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) — tools that have reportedly been central to the administration’s emerging “ideological deportation” strategy.
The newspaper and two noncitizen former students claim that lawful residents are now living in fear of deportation solely for expressing pro-Palestinian Arab political views — a direct violation, they argue, of First Amendment protections.
“Since the Trump administration began targeting lawfully present noncitizens for deportation based on protected speech in March 2025,” attorneys wrote, “international students at The Stanford Daily have censored themselves, removed published work, and avoided political discourse entirely.”
The lawsuit paints a chilling picture of self-censorship on campus, where student journalists are allegedly scrubbing Gaza-related articles and refusing to cover Palestinian issues for fear of visa revocation, arrest, or ICE detention.
At the heart of the case are two INA provisions:
- One allows the Secretary of State to order deportation if a noncitizen’s views are deemed harmful to U.S. foreign policy interests.
- The second grants unilateral power to revoke visas at any time, without explanation.
The plaintiffs are demanding that a federal judge block the administration from enforcing these provisions against students whose views are protected under U.S. constitutional law.
The case comes amid heightened tension at U.S. universities, especially in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel, and the subsequent war in Gaza. Stanford, like many elite institutions, has seen a surge in anti-Israel protests and antisemitism accusations.
A June 2024 Stanford report concluded that “widespread and pernicious” antisemitism plagued the university. And in April 2025, 12 individuals were charged with felony vandalism after ,storming and damaging the university president’s office during a pro-Palestinian protest.
Now, the lawsuit marks a critical moment in the ongoing war over free speech, foreign policy, and campus activism — pitting student journalists against an immigration policy they claim targets dissent and silences democratic discourse.
