U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally approved the deportation of five international student activists last year after receiving internal memos describing their participation in pro-Palestinian protests and their writings about the war in Gaza, according to federal documents unsealed Jan. 22 and reported on by the New York Times.
The records include DHS dossiers recommending removal of five students (including Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk), all of whom were in the United States legally when they were arrested last spring. Judge William G. Young previously ruled that the Trump administration illegally targeted the students based on protected speech, finding the effort violated the First Amendment.
Several memos show officials anticipated legal scrutiny, warning that courts could view the cited conduct as constitutionally protected expression. “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,” said one memo.
