University professors sue Trump administration over crackdown on campus protesters – The Times of India

For the past few weeks, the education sector has witnessed significant turmoil. In a recent development on Tuesday, groups representing university professors filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that its practice of arresting and threatening noncitizen students and faculty members for protesting on campus deprives US citizens of their right to engage with foreign-born peers and hear their perspectives. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in Massachusetts and challenges the Trump administration’s broader approach to deportation, arguing that it is unconstitutional, as reported by The New York Times.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the American Association of University Professors, a nonprofit group focused on academic freedom, along with three of its chapters at Harvard, New York University, and Rutgers. The nonprofit Middle East Studies Association is also part of the lawsuit. Additionally, the Knight Institute, an independent organization that does not represent the Columbia administration, is involved, as reported by The New York Times.
The suit is based on a First Amendment principle asserting that Americans have the right not only to express ideas but also to hear them. It argues that this right is being violated as noncitizens increasingly avoid political protests, delete content from their social media, and distance themselves from groups engaged in pro-Palestinian advocacy. The lawsuit further claims that noncitizen students and faculty are resorting to self-censorship in classrooms to avoid drawing attention, as reported by The New York Times.
Additionally, the lawsuit contends that the deportation policy violates the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections, as it fails to provide noncitizen students and faculty members with “fair warning as to what speech and association the government believes to be grounds for arrest, detention, and deportation,” as reported by The New York Times.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include President Trump; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem; and Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as reported by The New York Times.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent the Trump administration from continuing these practices, arguing that they create a climate of fear and suppress academic discourse. Legal experts suggest that the case could set a significant precedent for the rights of noncitizen students and faculty in the US The administration has yet to respond to the allegations.