Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally approved the arrest and removal of five international student activists for their advocacy concerning Palestine and their writings against the war in Gaza, according to government documents unsealed by a federal judge. The release follows a protracted legal battle that has accused the Trump administration of orchestrating an unconstitutional and retaliatory campaign against campus activists.
Judge Condemns 'Unconstitutional Conspiracy' by Top Officials
Last week, District Judge William Young, a Reagan-era appointee, found that Trump officials, including Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, engaged in what he termed an "unconstitutional conspiracy." The judge stated they "failed in their duties to protect the Constitution" by violating the First Amendment rights of students and faculty through threats to revoke visas, arrest, and deport them.
Internal Memos Reveal Direct Involvement and Legal Warnings
Dozens of internal government documents unsealed on Thursday detail how Rubio directed officials to deport several high-profile activist figures, including Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil, prior to their arrests and detentions last year. The papers show that a senior diplomat repeatedly cautioned Rubio against targeting these students, stressing that stripping their visas and green cards over "actions inextricably tied to speech protected under the First Amendment" would likely trigger a flood of lawsuits.
A specific memo concerning Palestinian Columbia student Mohsen Madhawi, a green card holder arrested at a citizenship interview in April, noted: "Given the potential that a court may consider his actions inextricably tied to speech protected under the First Amendment, it is likely that courts will scrutinize the basis for this determination."
Basis for Deportation Relied on Rare Law and External Dossiers
The unsealed documents include dossiers prepared by activists, such as the pro-Israel group Canary Mission, which largely relied on news clips about pro-Palestine campus demonstrations. The group describes its mission as collecting information on individuals who "promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews."
Trump officials repeatedly acknowledged that there was virtually no basis to deport the students other than invoking a rarely used Red Scare-era law. This statute allows the Secretary of State to deem noncitizens deportable over perceived threats to U.S. foreign policy. Rubio and other officials alleged that demonstrators against Israel's war in Gaza were promoting antisemitism and providing material support for terrorist groups, accusations that the targeted students, their attorneys, and advocates have firmly rejected.
Public Justifications and Ongoing Legal Battles
In public statements, Rubio has sought to justify the students' arrests by claiming their presence in the U.S. undermines foreign policy interests aimed at preventing antisemitism. He has stated he "proudly" revoked hundreds of student visas over campus activism. Documents reveal that even Homeland Security officials conceded they had not identified "any alternative grounds" for deportation, including evidence of providing material support to terrorist organisations.
In response to Judge Young's order, a State Department official told The Independent that the Trump administration "is using every tool available to get terrorist-supporting aliens out of our country." The official added, "A visa is a privilege, not a right. We abide by all applicable laws to ensure the United States does not harbor aliens who pose a threat to our national security."
Students' Current Status and Judicial Scrutiny
Four students central to the case—Khalil, Madhawi, Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, and Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri—were all granted release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody by federal judges last year. Another, Columbia student Yunseo Chung, obtained a restraining order before ICE could arrest her. Although the five students remain free from ICE custody, the Trump administration continues efforts to re-arrest and deport them.
Earlier this week, administration officials threatened to deport Khalil to Algeria after a federal appeals court reversed a lower-court decision that had released him. While officials publicly accused Ozturk of activities "in support of Hamas," an internal State Department memo admitted there was no evidence she "engaged in any antisemitic activity" or made "any public statements indicating support for a terrorist organization or antisemitism generally." The Turkish scholar, who co-wrote a campus newspaper op-ed critical of Israel's war, was arrested by masked agents near her Massachusetts home last March and detained in Louisiana for over six weeks.
Judge's Profound Concerns Over Government Conduct
In closing remarks from the bench last week, Judge Young expressed deep concern: "I find it breathtaking that I have been compelled in the evidence to find the conduct of such high-level officers of our government, cabinet secretaries, conspiring to infringe the First Amendment rights." He reflected, "I've never had a case that approached that level of consequence. But I've asked myself, why? How did this happen? How could our own government, the highest officials in our government, seek to so infringe the rights of people lawfully here in the United States?"
The judge said he was convinced by evidence that high-ranking officials, including the president, hold "a view of freedom by who's excluded," as though "they fear First Amendment protections" and "exclude from participation everyone who does not agree with them." In Thursday's ruling, he ordered that any further attempts to deport members of the groups that sued would likely be considered unlawful retaliation.
