DHS blasts ruling shielding anti-Israel protesters from deportation
A federal court ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by targeting anti-Israel protesters for deportation, prompting sharp criticism from the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS officials called the ruling 'disheartening' and accused the judge of unfairly demonizing federal law enforcement amid rising attacks on agents.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sharply criticized a federal court ruling that found the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by targeting anti-Israel protesters for deportation.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant U.S. secretary of homeland security for public affairs, told Jewish News Syndicate that “less than a week after a terrorist attack at an ICE facility in Dallas, a craven judge is smearing and demonizing federal law enforcement.”
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Senior Judge William Young in Massachusetts, found that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “acted in concert to misuse the sweeping powers of their respective offices” by seeking to deport protesters “primarily on account of their First Amendment protected political speech.”
The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by groups including the American Association of University Professors, citing cases such as Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University.
In response, McLaughlin added, “Our federal law enforcement officers face a 1,000% increase in assaults against them, unprecedented online doxing of our agents and their families, and they’re being stalked and pummeled by rocks and Molotov cocktails.”
McLaughlin called the ruling “disheartening,” saying, “even after the terrorist attack and recent arrests of rioters with guns outside of ICE facilities, this judge decides to stoke the embers of hatred.”
There has been substantial left-wing criticism in higher education against Trump’s deportation policy, with some student groups openly urging the violation of federal law.
Over 45 student groups at George Washington University, for example, have petitioned the administration to declare the campus a “sanctuary” for undocumented immigrants, urging it to block federal immigration enforcement and expand support for those facing deportation.
Members of the Trump administration, including Secretary Rubio, have consistently called for foreign nationals who have praised the terror group Hamas, or its Oct. 7 massacre perpetrated against Israel, to be deported.
“My view on this is one of common sense,” Rubio stated earlier this year. “If you apply for a visa to come into the United States, and in the process of being looked at, it comes to light that you are a supporter of Hamas, [then] we wouldn’t let you in.”
“If we knew you were a supporter of Hamas, we would not give you a visa,” he added. “So now that you got the visa and you’re inside the U.S., and now we realize you’re a supporter of Hamas, we should remove your visa.”
Campus Reform has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
