BOSTON—Lawyers for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) are set to deliver closing arguments this morning in a case challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen faculty and students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. The arguments follow a two-week trial overseen by Judge William G. Young in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. This was the first major trial of President Trump’s second term.

“We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to show the court and the public how the Trump administration’s targeting of noncitizen student protesters has left a cloud of fear over university communities and is at war with the First Amendment,” said Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University who will be presenting closing arguments today for the plaintiffs. “The government’s testimony throughout the trial made clear that it impermissibly sought to deport these students in retaliation for their protected speech. We’re hopeful Judge Young rules accordingly.”  

Filed in March, the lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s “ideological deportation” policy violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutional. Over eight days of witness testimony, the trial has forced the disclosure of a wealth of new details about the policy and its devastating effects on campuses nationwide. For a summary of the disclosures, see HERE. 

“Following the example of the world's most repressive regimes, the Trump administration is imprisoning and expelling people because of their political viewpoints,” said Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute’s executive director. “It would be difficult to conceive of a policy more offensive to the First Amendment, or to the values the First Amendment was meant to serve. We’re glad to have the opportunity to present this case to the court and hope it reaches a decision quickly.” 

Register to join a livestream of closing arguments on Monday 7/21 at 10:00am ET here.

Register to join AAUP’s post-trial press conference on Monday 7/21 at 4:00pm ET here.

Read daily trial summaries here.

Read trial transcripts here.

Read more about the case here.

In addition to the AAUP and MESA, plaintiffs include AAUP chapters at Harvard, Rutgers, and NYU. The associations’ members include tens of thousands of faculty and students across the country. 

Lawyers on the case include Ramya Krishnan, Jameel Jaffer, Alex Abdo, Scott Wilkens, Carrie DeCell, Xiangnong (George) Wang, Talya Nevins, Jackson Busch, and Stephany Kim of the Knight First Amendment Institute; Ahilan Arulanantham; Michael Tremonte, Noam Biale, Alexandra Conlon, and Courtney Gans of Sher Tremonte; and Edwina Clarke and David Zimmer for Zimmer, Citron & Clarke.