19 states join legal action against Trump administration

The attorney generals submitted a court document known as an Amicus Brief in the federal case of AAUP v. Rubio, outlining their opposition to the Trump administration’s “Ideological Deportation Policy”, which has seen 1,179 student visas revoked as of April 15.  

“The Ideological Deportation Policy is antithetical to the principle of free expression that is supposed to define American higher education,” the attorneys wrote, supporting AAUP’s lawsuit, which seeks an injunction to halt the widespread arrest, detention and deportation of students and faculty.  

The attorney generals, all hailing from states with Democratic governors, have argued that the administration is “weaponising” immigration enforcement and violating the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.  

“Higher education is in a very precarious place right now,” warned AAUP General Counsel member Veena Dubal. “I have never seen so much censorship and so much fear.”  

Facing myriad “unlawful” threats to federal funding and an “increasingly bleak” picture for academic freedom, Dubal said the widespread support for a preliminary injunction among states and universities was “very promising”.  

“The fact that almost half of the state attorney generals are seeing this harm and understand the importance of our legal argument is very compelling,” she added.  

According to the brief, the Ideological Deportation Policy is based on two Executive Orders relating to protecting the US from terrorism and combatting antisemitism, laying the foundation for the administration deporting noncitizens with whom it politically disagrees based on ideological grounds rather than on safety threats.  

“[The policy] creates a pernicious dynamic whereby noncitizens may self-censor for fear of losing their immigration status and campus community members are thereby deprived of hearing their voices,” the brief states.  

It urges the court to recognise the multiple economic, academic and cultural benefits of international students and to halt the policy “that targets our noncitizen residents for investigation, surveillance, arrest, detention and deportation based upon their beliefs and expression”. 

The state of academic freedom is increasingly bleak. I have never seen so much censorship and so much fear.

Veena Dubal, American Association of University Professors (AAUP)

As of April 14, 1,179 known international student visas have been terminated by the US government, according to tracking by Inside Higher Ed.  

This ever-growing figure has sent shockwaves across US campuses, with more than 500 college leaders represented by the Presidents’ Alliance pledging their support for AAUP’s legal action against the federal government.  

Initially, US secretary of state Marco Rubio seemed to explain the government’s actions as part of its clampdown on pro-Palestinian protesters, declaring: “We give you a visa to come and study to get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.” 

Alleged reasons for the revocations include political activism, prior arrests (even without conviction), legal infractions including minor traffic infractions and alleged violations of visa terms.

The PIE News understands that in most cases, no rationale has been provided by the state department, with stakeholders raising grave concerns about the lack of communication from immigration authorities. 

Leading much of the sector’s advocacy, NAFSA has said: “There is still no transparency into the grounds for these revocations, nor is there any clear process for determining what the charges are against the student. Due process is woefully absent.”  

NAFSA added that there was no clear pattern in terms of nationality, with students from all regions being impacted by the revocations, arrests and detentions.  

Responding to The PIE on April 15, a state department spokesperson said it did not provide statistics on visa terminations on the basis that the process is “ongoing” and “dynamic”. 

“As the secretary indicated, the department revokes visas ever day in order to secure America’s borders and keep our communities safe – and will continue to do so,” they said.  

Co-leading the coalition of attorney generals is Massachusetts representative Andrea Campbell, who announced that she was “proud” to defend the rights of international students and faculty who “add to the rich dialogue on our campuses and to our global competitiveness as a nation.”  

“No student should ever live in fear of detention or deportation for what they believe or express. School campuses are not places where young people should be silenced, targeted, or made to feel unsafe,” Campbell continued. 

She is joined by the attorney generals from Arizona, California, Michigan, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and Washington, D.C. 

Across the state of Massachusetts – where the case is due to be heard on April 23 – nearly 100 known international students have had their visas revoked as of April 15, according to Inside Higher Ed.  

The number includes Tufts University Fulbright Scholar, Rümeysa Öztürk, whose detainment by plain clothed immigration officers on the street went viral after being captured by surveillance cameras.  

In the video, a neighbour can be heard asking: “Is this a kidnapping?”, before Öztürk was taken to a detention facility 1,500 miles away in Louisiana where she remains.  

In the brief, the attorney generals draw on Öztürk’s words, writing: “The world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room”.  

AAUP v. Rubio will be heard by a Massachusetts court on April 23.  

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