Stanford University’s independent student newspaper on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against two Trump administration officials, claiming some of its writers in the U.S. on student visas have “self-censored” to avoid being targeted for deportation.
The Stanford Daily and two anonymous plaintiffs, who have published commentary online but are not employed by the newspaper, claim Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s immigration enforcement moves against outspoken students have chilled their speech.
“Secretary Rubio and the Trump administration’s war against noncitizens’ freedom of speech is intended to send an unmistakable message: Watch what you say, or you could be next,” the complaint reads. “Message received.”
The student newspaper said its writers present on student visas have declined assignments tied to Israel’s war in Gaza, including coverage of campus protests, worried that reporting on the conflict could endanger their legal status. Some writers have sought removal of previous articles about the conflict, as well.
The two plaintiffs have self-censored over concerns they could be deported for expression deemed “anti-American” or “anti-Israel” by the government, the complaint reads.
One of the plaintiffs, listed as Jane Doe, has published pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel commentary and is named on Canary Mission, an anonymously run, pro-Israel website that the administration has used to find students to target for deportation. She has since ceased sharing her opinions on the war.
The other plaintiff, whom the complaint lists as John Doe, attended a pro-Palestine protest at his university after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and published commentary against Israel. Though he initially self-censored by withholding publication of a study related to Gaza, he has since resumed his journalism and advocacy.
Neither plaintiff has a criminal record and both are in the country lawfully, according to the complaint.
“There’s real fear on campus and it reaches into the newsroom,” Greta Reich, the editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily, said in a statement published online.
“The Daily is losing the voices of a significant portion of our student population,” she added.
The plaintiffs point to two provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allow Rubio to render the students deportable, asserting they are unconstitutional as applied to protected speech.
The first lets the secretary of State initiate deportation proceedings against noncitizens for protected speech if they “personally determine” the speech “compromises a compelling foreign policy interest.” The second lets the secretary revoke a noncitizen’s visa “at any time.”
“The First Amendment cements America’s promise that the government may not subject a speaker to disfavored treatment because those in power do not like his or her message,” the complaint reads. “And when a federal statute collides with First Amendment rights, the Constitution prevails.”
In a statement, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the lawsuit “baseless” and “political.”
“DHS doesn’t arrest people based on protected speech, so the plaintiffs’ premise is incorrect,” McLaughlin said. “DHS takes its role in removing threats to the public and our communities seriously, and the idea that enforcing federal law in that regard constitutes some kind of prior restraint on speech is laughable.”
McLaughlin added that there is “no room” in the U.S. for “the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers.”
“And we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” she said. “Sec. Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-American and anti-Semitic violence and terrorism – think again.”
The Hill has reached out to Rubio’s office for comment.
The lawsuit echoes testimony presented in a bench trial over the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activists, which ended last month.
Several university associations challenged a policy that has led to arrests and efforts to deport foreign-born students and faculty members at colleges across the country.
U.S. District Judge William Young, an appointee of former President Reagan, has not yet ruled in that case but must determine whether the administration unlawfully singled out campus activists critical of Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Stanford Daily is represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and local counsel.
“The First Amendment bars the government from punishing protected speech — period,” FIRE Legal Director Will Creeley said in a statement. “In our free country, you shouldn’t have to show your papers to speak your mind.”
Updated at 12:33 p.m.
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