Overview

• U.S. District Judge William G. Young found by clear and convincing evidence that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio coordinated actions that chilled protected speech through visa revocations, arrests and detentions.
• The court concluded that noncitizens lawfully present in the United States have the same free speech rights as citizens under the First Amendment.
• Trial testimony showed investigators reviewed roughly 5,000 protesters’ names, produced about 200 investigative reports, and drew many leads from the Canary Mission website, with analysts reassigned to focus on campus demonstrators.
• Young condemned ICE’s use of masked agents during arrests, writing that such tactics were intended to “terrorize Americans into quiescence.”
• Plaintiffs include the AAUP and MESA; the administration disputes there was any ideological deportation policy and has signaled an appeal, while individual immigration cases involving activists such as Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk continue.