California judge blocks Trump deportation push over Israel criticism
Why it matters: The ruling found First and Fifth Amendment violations and could shield noncitizen students from speech-based deportation threats.
A federal judge in San Jose, California, ruled Friday that the Trump administration cannot use deportation rules to target noncitizens for criticizing Israel or supporting Palestinians on college campuses. U.S. District Judge Noël Wise sided with the Stanford University student newspaper, which argued that some international students were afraid to speak because of the threat of removal. Wise found constitutional flaws under the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment and struck down portions of the provisions the government has used in such cases. The decision echoes a Boston federal ruling from last year that found the administration had violated the Constitution by targeting noncitizens over pro-Palestinian speech.