Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown co-led a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to uphold a district court ruling blocking the Trump Administration’s unlawful policy targeting individuals for visa revocations and removal based on their political speech and activism. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts previously found that the Trump Administration’s policy constituted viewpoint discrimination and violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

“The Trump Administration’s weaponization of immigration enforcement against students and faculty is designed to chill free speech and civil discourse at college campuses across the country. A district court has already rejected the Trump Administration’s ideological deportation policy as unlawful, and I urge the First Circuit to do the same. Our nation is built on robust debate and the free exchange of ideas. To send the message that students and faculty must fall in line or face deportation is antithetical our values and to the U.S. Constitution.” – AG Bonta