Citing the importance of the First Amendment, a California federal judge says the U.S. government is unconstitutionally silencing critics of Israel’s war in Gaza and others as part of the Trump administration’s quest to deport noncitizens who he says disrupted college campuses while expressing their opinions. Judge Noël Wise, in a ruling Friday, handed a victory to The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s student newspaper, which has said some international students were afraid to speak out because of deportation. “Freedom of speech is illusory if we are only ‘free’ to express complementary views about the government and its leaders,” the judge wrote. The decision is based largely on findings nearly a year ago by a U.S. district judge in Boston, who ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution when it deported noncitizens solely for supporting Palestinians and criticizing Israel. Wise wrote that freedoms of speech and the press are “fundamental to America’s enduring democracy.” The judge cited free speech failures and vagueness that violate the First and Fifth Amendments in striking down parts of the federal government’s rules regarding deportations. Wise cited retaliation in March 2025 by U.S. immigration authorities against people who engaged in speeches supporting the Palestinians and against Israel’s actions, which a growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said amounted to genocide. The judge also cited retaliation against people who criticized Charlie Kirk after the Turning Point USA co-founder’s murder last September. “Tomorrow, or perhaps even today, targets may include anyone in the United States who exercises their freedom of speech simply to express opinions that the government does not like,” the San Jose judge said. “This downward spiral is antithetical to our Constitution, which recognizes our right to speak freely,” he added. “Here you can simultaneously hate the content of a person’s speech and love the country that values the freedom to allow it. The zealous protection of our constitutional right to free speech is a provocative demonstration of our country’s powerful lack of fear.” The Justice Department did not respond Saturday to a message seeking comment on the decision. George Porteous, editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily, responded to the ruling by saying in X: “Reporters in our newsroom should not be afraid that writing a story will result in their deportation. Today’s victory means they won’t have to.” Conor Fitzpatrick, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which filed the lawsuit, praised the ruling. “In America, free speech doesn’t just belong to people who say things the government agrees with,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. In his decision, Wise said it was clear that the government’s tactics have had an effect on college campuses. “The silence is deafening,” the judge wrote. At The Stanford Daily, noncitizens legally present at the newspaper have resigned, withheld articles, rejected assignments, requested that articles be removed and requested anonymity for fear of adverse immigration consequences, Wise noted. He said noncitizens have the same First Amendment rights as citizens, and yet they were left to guess what U.S. foreign policy was at a given time and on a given issue. “This is an incomprehensible standard,” he said. “While the Court understands that the government has been granted considerable discretion in foreign policy and immigration matters, that discretion must still ensure that ordinary people can understand what the law allows and prohibits.” Wise added: “Our constitutional right to freedom of expression guarantees people the right to express – through their words, actions or meetings – opinions that may be repugnant, views that run counter to prevailing political norms, or beliefs that otherwise challenge the country’s domestic or foreign policy, military engagement or war.” More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
