The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration – a not-for-profit in the education sphere, along with 91 higher education institutions and associations, filed an amicus brief yesterday in a US appeals court urging it to uphold protections for non-citizen students and faculty . The brief asks the court to protect them from immigration action over constitutionally protected speech.
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The lawsuit was initially filed in March 2025 by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), several AAUP campus chapters and the Middle East Studies Association. It challenged the Trump administration's policy of targeting non-citizen students and faculty through arrest, detention, visa revocation and deportation based on protected political expression and association.
In Sept 2025, Justice William G. Young of the district court ruled that the Trump administration's policy violated the First Amendment. It held that non-citizens lawfully present in the US have First Amendment free-speech rights. Later in Jan 2026, Justice Young issued a further order declaring the Trump administration's ideological deportation policy unlawful and limiting its ability to deport non-citizen members of AAUP and the Middle East Studies Association based on protected political speech. The government subsequently appealed the rulings to the First Circuit. This has led to an amicus brief being filed.
The case has particular implications for international students and scholars in the US. The Presidents’ Alliance argues that the administration's policy has created a climate of fear on campuses, potentially chilling students and faculty from speaking, teaching, researching or participating in campus life. It says the impact extends beyond those directly targeted, affecting academic freedom, international enrolment, research and innovation, and the ability of US universities to attract talent from around the world.
Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance, said: “When non-citizen students and scholars fear that speaking, teaching, researching, or participating in campus life could put their immigration status at risk, the harm extends far beyond any one individual; it chills academic freedom and undermines the free exchange of ideas that is fundamental to American higher education.”
The newly filed amicus brief urges the First Circuit to affirm the district court’s ruling and protect the open inquiry and exchange of ideas essential to American higher education.
