Free speech on trial: Stanford newspaper sues Trump administration over political targeting of students

The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s student-run newspaper, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging its use of federal immigration law to target pro-Palestinian Arab activists.

The newspaper argues that the government’s actions unlawfully curtail students’ First Amendment rights, according to a report in Israel National News. The Stanford Daily and two former noncitizen college students brought the case, fearing that their pro-Palestinian Arab views or activism could make them vulnerable to deportation. As such, the lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s use of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to deport noncitizens based on their political views.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs, from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), stated that international students on staff have been avoiding writing about the war in Gaza or have removed previously published articles out of fear. They noted that since March 2025, the administration began targeting lawfully present noncitizens for deportation based on protected speech, leading to self-censorship among students at The Stanford Daily due to fears of visa revocation, arrest, detention and deportation, according to CNN.

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The lawsuit focuses on two INA provisions. The first grants the Secretary of State the authority to remove a noncitizen whose views “would compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.” The second provision allows the Secretary to revoke a visa at any time, at their discretion. The lawsuit seeks a federal judge’s order to bar the administration from using these provisions to deport noncitizens, particularly staff members of The Stanford Daily, based on their protected speech.

The Stanford Daily stated in its lawsuit that the administration has caused its foreign writers to self-censor to avoid being targeted. The student newspaper brought the suit because of two anonymous members of the newspaper, who have had to “self-censor” their published and. The newspaper argued that the government’s effort has impermissibly chilled students’ First Amendment rights.

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Stanford, along with other campuses across the US, experienced an increase in anti-Israel protests following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the subsequent war in Gaza. In June 2024, a committee analyzing antisemitism at Stanford found “widespread and pernicious” antisemitism at the university. In April, 12 individuals were charged with felony vandalism related to a pro-Palestinian Arab demonstration at Stanford University, during which demonstrators occupied the university president’s office and caused significant damage.

The lawsuit is a representation of a legal challenge to the Trump administration’s so-called ideological deportation policy, which aims to deport noncitizens based on their political views.