ICE Won’t Rule Out Retaliating Against Immigrants Who Testify in Free Speech Case

In March a group of scholars filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to block the administration from detaining and deporting students and professors for speaking out about Palestine Now as the incident heads to trial in Massachusetts federal court in July those professors and students worry they may be targeted by immigration administrators for speaking out in the courtroom on the witness stand But the Trump administration is refusing to reassure them they won t be subject to retaliation As attorneys for the scholars prepared to file a motion to protect their onlookers countless of whom are in the country under green cards or visas from being detained or deported for testifying during trial regime attorneys refused to agree to such safeguards according to new legal filings in the affair In their refusal authorities attorneys reported that their clients which include the Department of Homeland Safety as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not want to be bound by an agreement preventing them from taking action against individuals whose identities they did not know yet the filings disclosed When the scholars attorneys clarified that the motion would only protect observers from being targeted for participating in the affair attorneys for DHS and ICE doubled down in their opposition to the protection and challenged them to instead have the judge decide whether to grant the order Defendants counsel reiterated that the agencies were not settled with such a proposal the scholars attorneys reported in the filing and advised us to go ahead and ask the judge to rule on it Read our complete coverage Chilling Dissent The original complaint lodged by the American Association of University Professors its chapters at Harvard Rutgers and New York University and the Middle East Studies Association was filed days after immigration agents abducted Columbia University graduate and Palestinian organizer Mahmoud Khalil a legal permanent resident who had in recent weeks obtained a green card Among its defendants is Secretary of State Marco Rubio who has led the hunt for pro-Palestinian activists including a campaign to scour social media for possible targets The suit called such policies unconstitutional and argues that the repression has created a state of repression and fear on university campuses Since President Donald Trump s return to the White House in January the administration has weaponized the United States robust deportation apparatus to crack down on pro-Palestinian students and professors The Trump administration has also punished universities for failing to address alleged antisemitism on campuses in its push to silence pro-Palestinian speech The administration has canceled the visas of thousands of students and has cut federal funding from universities Aside from Khalil immigration agents have also abducted other students and scholars including Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri Tufts University graduate scholar R meysa zt rk and fellow Columbia aspirant protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi While Suri zt rk and Mahdawi have since been distributed Khalil remains detained in a private immigration jail in Louisiana The March complaint and supporting legal filings highlight more than a dozen students and professors majority of of whom are green-card holders who disclosed Khalil s disappearance and the Trump administration s protocol of targeting pro-Palestinian protesters has prevented them from attending actions posting on social media and continuing their research and writing on Israel and Palestine One scholar stated they had their scholarship on the topic removed from online and had turned down speaking opportunities due to fears that they will be targeted for deportation based on that writing and advocacy The motion filed on Wednesday by free-speech attorneys requests a protective order from the court preventing doable cabinet retaliation In addition to the threats of deportation countless explained attorneys they worried testifying would impact their future applications to become naturalized citizens Noncitizen spectators contacted by counsel have expressed concern that if they testify at trial or are otherwise identified in connection with this episode Defendants will retaliate against them by arresting detaining or deporting them denying them reentry into the United States revoking their visas adjusting their legal permanent resident status or denying their pending or future naturalization applications the motion read Related Judges Are Slowing Down Trump s Fascist Deportation Regime Now He s Arresting Them For It Aside from cases involving pro-Palestine protesters ICE agents have shown in newest months they are primed for such courthouse arrests Specific agents have camped outside of courthouses across the U S to this instant detain people after judges dismiss their immigration cases often denying their right to appeal their cases Others have been detained and jailed in courthouse holding rooms after routine ICE check-ins and asylum hearings The leadership is expected to file a response to the motion on Monday after which the judge in the incident William Young will rule on whether or not to grant the order protecting observers The post ICE Won t Rule Out Retaliating Against Immigrants Who Testify in Free Speech Circumstance appeared first on The Intercept