AG Nessel Supports Challenge to Trump Administration’s Unconstitutional Ideological Deportation Policy

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief (PDF) in American Association of University Professors, et al., v. Marco Rubio, et al. in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, supporting a challenge to the Trump Administration’s “Ideological Deportation Policy,” which targets and punishes noncitizens with lawful status, especially college students and faculty, who express political beliefs with which the Administration disagrees.  

In filing the amicus brief, the coalition urges the court to block the Administration’s policy, arguing that it violates the First Amendment and irreparably harms colleges and universities, public health and safety, and freedom of religious worship.

“This is yet another disturbing and unconstitutional example of the Trump Administration targeting people simply for expressing opposing political views,” Nessel said. “Stripping students and faculty of their lawful immigration status for exercising their First Amendment rights undermines free speech, threatens Michigan’s 15 public universities, and endangers the open exchange of ideas that is essential to our democracy.”

The Administration’s “Ideological Deportation Policy” is based on two Executive Orders (14161 and 14188). These orders direct federal agencies to vet foreign nationals seeking to enter the U.S. based on ideological grounds rather than on direct safety threats. These orders further direct federal agencies to investigate, detain, and deport noncitizen students and faculty who engage in political speech with which the Administration disagrees. 

The Administration has revoked more than 700 visas of noncitizen students, visitors, and residents, including many revocations based on protected expression. The removal of lawful immigration status leaves such individuals vulnerable to arrest, detention, and deportation, including students from at least 10 public universities throughout Michigan.

In their brief, the coalition argues that the policy inflicts harm to educational institutions, where free expression of political speech must be protected to allow students to learn from and engage with diverse viewpoints. Due to the breadth and ambiguity of what speech the Administration deems prohibited, the coalition argues the policy will lead noncitizen residents to limit and censor their political and religious expression, research, and academic conclusions.  

As noncitizen residents contribute substantially to the economic, cultural, and intellectual vitality of the coalition states, the coalition urges the court to block the policy, especially due to the policy’s irreparable harm to the states and public interest.  

Joining Attorney General Nessel in filing this amicus brief were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

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