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RU faculty union joins suit against president

Says government violated First Amendment rights

By: Hannan Adely
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... A Rutgers University faculty unions is suing the Trump administration to block effort to arrest, detain and deport non-citizen students and faculty members over pro-Palestinian protest or speech.
..... In its lawsuit field in federal court in Boston on Tuesday [03/25/2025] morning, faculty members argue that the government's actions have led to a climate of fear and repression, "terrorizing students and faculty for their ricer of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing politician viewpoints that the government disfavors."
..... The Rutgers union,a chapter of the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, field the lawsuit along with the national AAUP organization, union chapter at Harvard and New York University, and the Middle East Studies Association in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
..... The suit alleges that the administration's policy violate the First Amendment and targets constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with.
..... "The First Amendment means the government can't arrest, detains, or deport people for lawful political expression - it's as simple as that," said Jameel Jafffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute, which is representing the faculty orgaizaitons. "this practice is one we'd ordinarily associae with the most repressive politcal regimes, and it should have no place in our democracy."
..... Following executive orders issued by President Donald Trump in January, [2025] immigration authorities have arrested and detained several people associated with colleges over Pro-Palestinain speech or protest. One of the orders targets foreigners who "espouse hateful ideology" and calls for the nation to ensure that non-citizens already living in the United States "d not bear hostile attitudes towards its citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principals" and "do not advocate for, aid or support designated foreign terrorist and other threats to national security."
..... Another order calls for combating antisemitism by removing people who harass or physically attack Jews. The order employed a controversial definitional of antisemitism that critics say conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish discrimination.
..... Administration officials have argued that visa and green card holders who participate in protests or share information deemed "pro-Hamas" or "antisemitic" do not have the right to remain in the country. "This is not about free speech,: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a March 12 [2025] press briefing. "This is about people that don't have aright to be in the United states to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.

A chill on speech at Rutgers

..... In the complaint, Noura Erakat, a professor of African Studies and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, said the government's actions have chilled speech on campus. Colleagues "have paused work on ongoing projects related to Palestine out of concern that they will be targeted for ideological deportation," Erakat said.
..... Union members who are not citizens are concerned that researching topics such a racism or Israel and Palestine could expose them to deportation, the complaint says. Others have refrained from speaking out publicly or taking political action because of the threat of deportation, Some are also shying away form union activity, the lawsuit says.
..... "Erakat has also observed that non-citizen students are less willing to speak in class and in public about Palestine or related issues, even if those issues relate to their personal experience," the lawsuit says. "Because her scholarship relies on narrative form conflict zones, her works suffered when non-citizens are chilled from sharing their experiences."
..... The Rutgers American Association of University Professor-American Federation of Teachers said the impact has been felt across the university, because "research, pedagogy, and outreach depend on creating academic and community spaces where all members of its community, whether citizen or non-citizen, can fully participate."
..... The situation has compelled the Rutgers union, with some 5,000 members, to divert resources to organize training find legal support for individual members and engage with university management.
..... Todd Wolfoson, president of the national AAUP and an associated professor in the Department of Journalism and Mada Studies at Rutgers, worried that the administration would use the same tactics to target other groups, such as those who teach the history of slavery, who provide gender-affirming helaht care or who research climate change.
..... Rutgers has about 9,000 international students and scholars form over 125 countries, its website says.

Lawsuit follows arrests

..... The lawsuit was field against Trump; Rubio, Kristie Noem, the homeland security secretary and Todd Lyons, the acting director of Mitigation and Customs Enforcement.
..... A State Department spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday, [03/25/2025] saying the department does not comment on pending and ongoing litigation.
..... Ahilan Arulanantham and Zimmer, Citoron & Clarke LLP are also representation the faculty organization in the lawsuit.
..... The suit comes after the arrest of several students and scholars. They include Mahmond Khalil, recent Columbia University graduate and green card holder who was active in pro-Palestinian protests, and Badar Kan Suri, an Indian post-doctoral student at Georgetown University. Both are accused of "spreading Hamas propaganda" tied to there support for Palestinian rights.
..... Another Green card holder, Yunsco Chung, who had also attended protests at Columbia, sued the administration on Monday [03/24/2025] after learning that her lawful permanent resident status was being revoke. Born in South Korea, Chung has been in the United States since the age of 7.
..... the government aims to deport them under a rarely use provision of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act that empowers the secretary of state to act to deport non-citizens whose presence has "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."

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