Rights group sues Trump administration for deporting pro-Palestinian protesters

A group of students and professors at Cornell University have filed a lawsuit challenging US President Donald Trump’s executive orders that empower his administration to deport international students and scholars, who express support for Palestinian rights.

The lawsuit, filed on Saturday in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeks a nationwide temporary restraining order to block enforcement of two executive orders signed by Trump in the first month of his term.

The president vowed to deport activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Eric Lee and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Council (ADC), notes that these orders violate the First and Fifth amendments of the US Constitution by unlawfully restricting freedom of speech.

“Only in a dictatorship can the leader jail and banish political opponents for criticizing his administration,” the filing explains. 

Lead attorney Eric Lee posted a statement on X on Sunday, that the “lawsuit aims to vindicate the rights of all non-citizens and citizens in the US, but the courthouse is only one arena in this fight.”

“We appeal to the population: stand up and exercise your First Amendment rights by actively and vigorously opposing the danger of dictatorship.”

“The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception," according to Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the ADC.

In a post on X, Plaintiff Momodou Taal, a Cornell graduate student, said, “What Trump is doing is a threat to millions in the US and worldwide…. We have to challenge the constitutionality of these executive orders.”

“This lawsuit is aimed at reversing the chill on speech and making people feel confident to stand up.”

The ADC lawsuit comes as nationwide protests are underway in the United States against the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who was detained by US Immigration agents on March 8 — without any charges. 

Lawyers for Khalil called the Trump administration’s actions against him “targeted, retaliatory detention and attempted removal of a student protestor because of his constitutionally protected speech.”

On Monday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from expelling Khalil.

On March 15,  a second Palestinian student was arrested over taking part in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last year.

Trump said earlier this week that Khalil’s arrest was just “the first of many to come.”

Pro-Zionist far-right group Betar, which supports Washington’s efforts to deport international students involved in university pro-Palestinian protests, said it has submitted “thousands of names” of students and faculty they believe to be in the US on visas and have participated in pro-Palestinian protests to the Trump administration.

It said it had “been working on deportations and will continue to do so.”

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