Breaking: Emergency Lawsuit Filed Challenging Attack on Free Speech; National Injunction Demanded

Reposted from ADC

Late yesterday evening, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), along with co-counsel, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Cornell University professor and two graduate students. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, challenges the constitutionality of two Executive Orders used by the Trump Administration to target and deport international students advocating for Palestinian freedom, rights, and liberation under the guise of protecting national security.

Plaintiffs are seeking a nationwide injunction of the enforcement of EO Numbers 14161 and 14188 to the extent they authorize deportation or prosecution based on protected speech. ADC Legal Director Chris Godshall-Bennett, along with Attorneys Eric Lee and Jonathan Wallace, Attorney Maria Kari of Project TAHA, and Attorney Mohammad Saleem of Davis Ndanusa Ikhlas & Saleem LLP, represent Momodou Taal, Mũkoma Wa Ngũgĩ, and Sriram Parasurama – two students and a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, whose activism and support of Palestine, has put them at serious risk of political persecution.

This bold legal challenge directly targets the Trump Administration’s unconstitutional campaign against free speech—particularly as it affects international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights. The administration has begun enforcement of these orders with last week’s arrest of former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. The government’s explicit goal is to end the Palestine Solidarity Movement in the country – however the attack on our First Amendment Rights is a concern for all Americans.

“This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections,” said Abed Ayoub, National Executive Director of ADC. “The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception. By targeting and punishing students who have spoken up in support of Palestine—or otherwise engaged in lawful protest—the Administration’s extreme Orders threaten to silence entire communities and unlawfully single out international students simply for their speech and expression.”

ADC’s attorneys, along with co-counsel, have taken a firm stand to defend the constitutional rights at stake. “This is one of those times people will look back on and ask what we did. We will not stand idly by while the government disappears its political opponents. My family fled European antisemitism and came to the United States where our Constitution protects us from tyranny. My Jewish identity won’t be used as an excuse to persecute the Palestinian people and its allies without a fight,” said ADC Legal Director Chris Godshall-Bennett. “Through this litigation, we seek both immediate and long-term relief to protect non-citizens from deportation and citizens from prosecution based on their constitutionally protected speech.”

Momodou Taal, one of the three plaintiffs, is a Ph.D. student at Cornell University on a student visa and a long-time advocate for Palestinian freedom. His leadership in the student movement for Palestine at Cornell has made him a target of discipline, doxxing, and, now, threats of deportation. The Executive Orders and their enforcement have chilled Momodou’s speech and activism much like they have students’ across the country.

Momodou Taal said: “The U.S. government claims to be zealous about free speech — except when it comes to Palestine. We’ve been here before: McCarthyism to Civil Rights to Vietnam, times when this country has deviated from its stated commitments to free speech. This is another generational moment, another hour of reckoning. Why is there a Palestine exception?”

The Administration’s actions amount to a sweeping, unconstitutional restriction on the rights of international students and strike at the heart of the First Amendment. There is no “Palestine Exception” to the First Amendment. President Trump’s executive orders do not just chill speech – they target it. They punish students for what they believe and who they dare to stand up for. That strikes at the heart of constitutional protections and threatens to carve out dangerous new limits on freedom of [speech].

ADC remains steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding the rights of all communities, and will continue to oppose any measure that violates core constitutional guarantees. By filing this lawsuit and requesting an emergency Temporary Restraining Order, we reaffirm our dedication to ensuring that the principles enshrined in the First Amendment remain robust and accessible to everyone, especially those with views disfavored by those in power.

Click here to read a copy of the submitted complaint and copy of submitted TRO Motion. We anticipate that the scheduling of a hearing date for the injunctive relief/TRO motion will be scheduled in the very near future. ADC will provide regular updates as the matter proceeds.