Lawsuit asserts crackdown interferes with constitutional rights of free exchange of ideas
A federal trial is set to begin Monday in Boston over a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's crackdown on foreign students and academics involved in pro-Palestinian activism, Politico reported Sunday.
In recent weeks, multiple federal judges have blocked Trump's attempts to deport student activists supporting Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit centers on five international scholars – Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, Yunseo Chung, Rumeysa Ozturk and Badar Khan Suri – who were targeted for deportation after Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled them threats to US foreign policy interests, according to Politico.
Courts, however, have repeatedly ruled that the government's justification for deporting them violated their constitutional rights, resulting in their release or protection from detention.
Now, academic organizations are taking the broader policy to court, accusing the Trump administration of interfering with the rights of US citizens to freely exchange ideas with foreign-born colleagues.
US District Judge William Young, a Reagan-era appointee, is presiding over the bench trial.
The case is an early test of Trump's second-term agenda and is being heard by a judge who has previously challenged the administration's immigration and funding policies.
