Last year, the University of California, Los Angeles, witnessed massive demonstrations. The protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with anti-Semitism, and characterizes their advocacy for Palestinian rights as support for extremism.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the university administration is preparing to negotiate with the government regarding the freeze, and there has been no comment yet from the White House.
Last week, the university agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by students and a professor alleging anti-Semitism.
The university was also sued earlier this year over an attack last year on pro-Palestinian protesters at the height of the protest movement on American campuses.
Human rights defenders have expressed concerns about academic freedom and freedom of expression.
The government also tried to deport foreign students who participated in the protests, but faced legal obstacles.
The Trump administration had threatened to cut federal funding to universities over pro-Palestinian protests and against Israel's war on Gaza. The government claims that the universities have tolerated anti-Semitism during the protests.
Lawsuit against the Trump administration
In this context, a Stanford University student newspaper filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, accusing it of violating international students' freedom of expression by threatening to deport them for writing articles deemed "anti-American or anti-Israel."
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The Stanford Daily and two unidentified students filed a lawsuit in California federal court against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. The lawsuit claims that international students at the Palo Alto, California, university have refrained from writing articles about the Middle East conflict for fear of being arrested, detained, and deported.
The lawsuit states, "This fear is incompatible with American liberty... Our First Amendment stands as a bulwark against government infringement on the inalienable right to think and express opinions."
A Stanford University spokesperson said the newspaper is an independent organization and the university is not a party to the lawsuit.
The Stanford Daily said in its lawsuit that the administration pushed its foreign writers to self-censor to avoid being targeted.
She argued that the administration's threats prevent them from "engaging in legally protected expression practices such as attending protests, using certain slogans, and publicly expressing their true views on US foreign policy and Israel and Palestine."
The newspaper asked the court to rule that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from deporting foreigners for engaging in free speech.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, with American support, left 61,158 Palestinian martyrs and 151,442 wounded, most of them children and women. More than 9,000 people remain missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
