Judge finds Trump administration unconstitutionally targeted pro-Palestinian students in searing rebuke
CBS2 days
Judge Rules Trump Admin Violated 1st Amendment on Pro-Palestine Deportations
Above: Brooklyn College students conduct a pro-Palestine protest on May 8, 2025. Image copyright: Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Judge William Young has struck a blow for democracy with his powerful rebuke of the Trump administration. The ruling clearly reveals a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to utilize immigration law to curb the First Amendment rights, guaranteed to all, of non-citizens, in a blatant violation of the law and the Constitution.
Republican narrative
Young’s decision reads more like a political tirade than a reasoned legal opinion. In a clear case of bias, the district judge chose to defend Hamas-supporting extremists and antisemites over the interests and people of the U.S. Judge Young seems determined to use his position to obstruct the actions of a democratically elected government.