BOSTON—The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University today filed its principal brief urging a federal appeals court to uphold a landmark ruling invalidating the Trump administration’s policy of targeting noncitizen students and faculty for arrest, detention, visa revocation, and deportation because of their pro-Palestinian advocacy. The brief asks the court to permanently block the policy in order to end its continuing chilling effect on campuses nationwide.

“The First Amendment does not allow the government to use immigration law to punish people for their political views,” said Xiangnong (George) Wang, staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute. “Students and faculty should not have to censor themselves out of fear that simply speaking their minds will lead to arrest or deportation. The First Circuit should uphold the district court’s ruling and ensure that this unconstitutional policy cannot continue.”

The lawsuit was filed in March 2025 on behalf of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA).

The appeal follows a nine-day trial in July 2025 in which the district court found that the Trump administration had adopted a policy of targeting noncitizens for their pro-Palestinian advocacy in order to suppress protected expression. The court held that the policy violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act and vacated the policy but declined to issue the injunction sought by the plaintiffs.

Today’s brief argues that stronger relief is necessary because the administration continues to deny that the policy exists while maintaining that it may use the very same immigration authorities that underpin the policy to carry on targeting noncitizens for their protected political speech. The brief asks the appeals court to ensure that the government cannot continue this unconstitutional conduct.

Read today’s brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit here.

Read more about the case, American Association of University Professors v. Rubio, 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, Stephany Kim, and Raya Koreh of the Knight First Amendment Institute; Ahilan Arulanantham; Michael Tremonte, Noam Biale, Alexandra Conlon, and Courtney Gans of Sher Tremonte LLP; and Edwina Clarke and David Zimmer for Zimmer, Citron & Clarke.

For more information, contact: Lorraine Kenny, [email protected]