AG Nick Brown joins multistate brief defending First Amendment protections for noncitizen students, faculty

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general throwing their support behind The Stanford Daily – an independent student-run newspaper at Stanford University – in their lawsuit against the Trump administration over its “Ideological Deportation Policy,” which targets and punishes noncitizens with lawful status, especially college students and faculty who express political beliefs with which the administration disagrees.

“America should be a place where anyone, from anywhere, can voice their opinions without fear,” said Brown. “This ideological deportation policy serves Trump’s interests, not America’s.”

In January 2025, President Trump issued two executive orders (14161 and 14188), which laid the groundwork for the administration’s “Ideological Deportation Policy.” These orders direct federal agencies to investigate, detain, and deport noncitizen students and faculty who engage in political speech with which the administration disagrees. As a result of the Trump administration’s executive orders and cruel immigration enforcement policies, The Stanford Daily filed a lawsuit in August 2025 against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, citing that multiple international student journalists have declined assignments, removed their bylines, or resigned entirely out of fear that their reporting could be used as grounds for deportation.

In their brief, Brown and the coalition assert that the Trump administration’s unlawful use of ideology to arrest, detain, and deport lawful noncitizen residents, threatens the economic growth and stability of the coalition states and their ability to attract diverse talent from around the world. In 2023, the 23,878 international students at Washington colleges and universities contributed $918 million to the state’s economy and supported 6,645 jobs.

The contributions of immigrant students and faculty go far beyond economics: They enrich academic discourse, strengthen research capabilities, and enhance the global competitiveness of the coalition states. For example, last year at the University of Washington, 402 postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty on academic exchange visas advanced research in areas ranging from radiology to computer science, while 138 visiting faculty engaged in independent scholarly research and collaboration with UW faculty.  

Brown and the coalition argue that the Trump administration’s ideological deportation policy is a direct violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech. The coalition states also argue that if deemed lawful by the court, the Trump administration’s weaponization of immigration enforcement would not only undermine the purpose of higher education, but it would also hinder the states’ ability to attract the diverse talent needed to grow and sustain key industries within state and local economies.  

Notably, just two weeks ago, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts addressed this unlawful policy in American Association of University Professors, v. Rubio, ruling that First Amendment protections apply equally to citizens and lawfully present noncitizens.

Joining Brown in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.  

A copy of the brief can be found here.