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Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in American Association of University Professors ("AAUP"), et al., v. Marco Rubio, et al. in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, supporting a challenge to the Trump Administration's stance on the deportation of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in anti-American protests.
“The Trump administration is going after international scholars and students who speak their minds about Palestine, but make no mistake: they won't stop there. They'll come next for those who teach the history of slavery or who provide gender-affirming health care or who research climate change or who counsel students about their reproductive choices. We all have to draw a line together—as the old labor movement slogan says: an injury to one is an injury to all,” said AAUP President Todd Wolfson.
“This chilling policy pulls from some of the darkest authoritarian playbooks throughout history. We have already seen young international scholars—here 100 percent legally— captured from the streets of their college towns for daring to express views that our President disagrees with. These dangerous and lawless attacks on free speech and political expression will not end here unless the courts step in immediately and forcefully to protect our freedom,” said Attorney General Tong.
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.
The coalition of Attorneys General says the “Ideological Deportation Policy” is based on two Executive Orders:
The first order says the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.
The second order says it shall be the policy of the U.S. to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.
Tong's press release says the 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."
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." The coalition also argues "the policy will lead noncitizen residents to limit and censor their political and religious expression, research, and academic conclusions" and "as a result of the Administration’s policy, some colleges and universities have already witnessed significant drops in applications and prospective enrollment of international students for the 2025-2026 school year."
The coalition also claims the Administration’s policy "will harm public safety and public health" because allegedly "due to the fear of deportation caused by the policy, noncitizens could avoid cooperating with law enforcement and reporting crime." Additionally, the coalition argues the policy "will harm public health, as the coalition states heavily depend on noncitizen healthcare workers. In fact, over one million immigrants work in healthcare nationwide, including 40% of home health aides."
"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," Tong's statement says.
The coalition’s amicus brief may be viewed in its entirety here.
The amicus brief was co-led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Washington Attorney General Nicholas Brown. The amicus brief was also joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island, and Vermont.
He can eff right off