"During the trial, lawyers for the associations presented witnesses who testified that the Trump administration had launched a coordinated effort to target students and scholars who had criticized Israel or showed sympathy for Palestinians. Not since the McCarthy era have immigrants been the target of such intense repression for lawful political speech, Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, told the court. The policy creates a cloud of fear over university communities, and it is at war with the First Amendment."
"There is no policy to revoke visas on the basis of protected speech, Victoria Santora told the court. John Armstrong, the senior bureau official in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on longstanding immigration law. Armstrong acknowledged he played a role in the visa revocation of several high-profile activists, including Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, and was shown memos endorsing their removal."
A federal judge in Boston ruled that efforts by the Trump administration to deport noncitizens for protesting the war in Gaza violated the First Amendment. University associations presented witnesses who said the administration coordinated efforts to target students and scholars critical of Israel or sympathetic to Palestinians. Plaintiffs characterized the campaign as ideological deportation that creates fear on campuses and likened it to McCarthy-era repression. Administration witnesses denied any policy of revoking visas for protected speech and said visa actions followed longstanding immigration law, while a senior consular official acknowledged involvement in some revocations and related memos.
Read at www.twincities.com
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