ISTANBUL 

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Palestinian activists. The lawsuit seeks a nationwide order to stop executive orders that violate scholars' right to free speech.

Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, the complaint names President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as defendants, Jurist News reported.

The group seeks to halt the implementation of two executive orders: 14161, which enforces more rigorous screening and vetting processes for foreign nationals, and 14188, which mandates federal agencies to pursue civil or criminal measures against alleged antisemitism.

The complaint argues that the executive orders have "unconstitutionally silenced" the plaintiffs, restricting their ability to express or engage with critical viewpoints on the US and Israeli governments under threat of prosecution or deportation.

It states that "these Orders violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution" and must be "enjoined, at least in part."

The lawsuit represents two graduate students and a professor from Cornell University.

They claim that exercising their constitutionally protected rights to free speech and political expression has resulted in surveillance, arrests, and the threat of deportation.

'False equation'

While the executive orders are framed as efforts to enhance national security and combat antisemitism, the plaintiffs argue that the defendants falsely equate advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism.

Abed Ayoub, the group’s national executive director, called the lawsuit "a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections." He argued that the First Amendment ensures "freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception."

Ayoub warns that by targeting students who support Palestine or engage in lawful protest, the administration's "extreme Orders threaten to silence entire communities" and unfairly single out international students who enrich academic and social institutions.

This legal action follows the recent arrest of two Columbia University students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.

On March 9, Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and student leader, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The White House fact sheet on the executive orders stated that Trump had vowed to deport "Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas."

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the arrest was made in alignment with the president's directives.

Trump commented on The White House X account: “This is the first arrest of many to come.”

In addition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended ICE’s actions, CBS News reported last week, asserting that individuals involved in “pro-Hamas events” would have their green cards and visas revoked.