A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration's actions to deport noncitizens who protested the Gaza conflict were unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge William Young issued the decision on Tuesday in Boston, siding with several university associations that argued the policy amounted to ideological deportation and violated the First Amendment.

Judge Young stated, "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court –- squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in the United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do.’"

The ruling followed a trial where lawyers for the university associations presented evidence that the Trump administration had initiated a coordinated effort to target students and scholars who criticized Israel or expressed support for Palestinians.

Ramya Krishnan, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, testified, "Not since the McCarthy era have immigrants been the target of such intense repression for lawful political speech. The policy creates a cloud of fear over university communities, and it is at war with the First Amendment."

In contrast, attorneys representing the Trump administration argued that there was no ideological deportation policy. Victoria Santora, one of the administration's lawyers, stated, "There is no policy to revoke visas on the basis of protected speech. The evidence presented at this trial will show that plaintiffs are challenging nothing more than government enforcement of immigration laws."

John Armstrong, a senior official in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on established immigration law. He acknowledged his involvement in the visa revocation of several prominent activists, including Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, and confirmed that he had seen memos supporting their removal.

Armstrong also denied that visa revocations were based on protected speech and dismissed claims of a targeted ideological policy. During the trial, it was revealed that a campaign had identified over 5,000 pro-Palestinian protesters, with reports generated on about 200 individuals who were suspected of violating U.S. law.

Peter Hatch from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit noted that prior to this year, he could not recall a student protester being referred for visa revocation. Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate, was released last month after spending 104 days in federal immigration detention. Ozturk, a Tufts University student, was released in May after being detained for six weeks following her arrest on a suburban Boston street. She claimed her detention was a result of an op-ed she co-wrote criticizing her university's response to the Gaza conflict.