BOSTON — In a 161-page decision released Tuesday out of Federal Court in Boston, U.S. District Court Judge William Young says the Trump Administration has been abusing its power when it comes to First Amendment rights of non-citizens.
“He actually says this is the most important case he’s seen in 47 years, and I can see why,” said Matt Cameron, an immigration attorney in Boston.
“We are not, and we must not become, a nation that imprisons and deports people because we are afraid of what they have to tell us,” said Judge Young in his ruling Tuesday.
Attorney Matt Cameron says the ruling Tuesday is huge for the First Amendment rights of immigrant students who have been targeted for showing support for Palestine.
“I really think this is an incredible vindication of those rights, it’s really encouraging to see a judge come out like this,” said Cameron.
Judge Young focused a big part of his decision on the case of Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University Grad student who was arrested by ICE agents in Somerville in March.
“I think it’s very important in this country that everyone understands they have the right to write an editorial and go home safely and not be arrested in the street by masked agents of the government,” said Cameron.
Ozturk was held in an ICE detention center for six weeks for an op-ed article she co-authored at Tufts on the war in Gaza.
Even though she has been released, her case was brought back to court in New York Tuesday as the government pushes for her detainment.
Ozturk’s lawyers say the ruling out of Boston is promising for her case after the judge said: “the effect of these targeted deportation proceedings continues unconstitutionally to chill freedom of speech to this day.”
“It’s a very important takeaway and just to really emphasize and underscore just how unusual these arrests are, how strange this moment is and how completely un-American so much of what we’re seeing right now is in the broader historical sense,” said Cameron. “To have a judge say it that clearly, I really think this is a decision that’s meant to be read by everybody, and it should be.”
Following his ruling Tuesday, Judge Young says there will be a hearing on remedy, which means the Court will find a solution on how the government can move forward in cases like this.
Judge Young was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, and he has been on the bench for nearly 50 years.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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