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A Reagan-appointed judge attacked the Trump administration’s effort on Thursday to expel some pro-Palestinian protesters and academics from major universities, describing the actions as “unconstitutional” and “targeted” efforts to silence free speech – a feature that prompted a strong backlash from the administration.
US District Judge William G. Young used a remedies hearing in Boston on Thursday to target Trump, accusing him of acting “unlawfully” and “intentionally” in targeting pro-Palestinian academic protesters on college campuses – an effort the judge described as illegal and targeting certain groups.
In response to these comments, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that “it is surprising that this judge is broadcasting his intention to participate in the fight against the democratically elected President of the United States.”
A senior DHS official also blasted the Boston-based federal judge’s comments.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the progress made in President Trump’s first year in office. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Young ruled in September that the actions in question violated the law The first amendment and had scheduled Thursday’s hearing with the goal of crafting a solution to protect the noncitizens in question from deportation, or having their immigration status changed without certain conditions.
But what happened instead was a surprise dressing down of Trump’s top officials, including the president, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“I find it amazing that I’m compelled to find evidence that I found the conduct of top officials of our government — cabinet secretaries — conspired to violate the First Amendment rights of people who have such rights here in the United States,” Young said Thursday. “These cabinet secretaries have failed to do their duty of commitment to respecting the Constitution.”
The most scathing remarks of the day, however, were reserved for Trump.
Young said Trump continued to flout the First Amendment in an “appalling” way, likening his actions to an “authoritarian” leader.
“We throw around the word ‘authoritarian,'” Young said. “In this context, I’m not taking it in a derogatory way — and I’m using it carefully — but it’s clear that this president believes, as an authority figure, that when he speaks, everyone, everyone in Article II will absolutely toe the line.”
Young used the remainder of the hearing to review a draft of the order he plans to finalize and publish next week, which would include circumstances under which administration officials could amend the immigration status of the academic groups in question.
He also said that he is planning to reveal a lot of goods that were used as evidence in this case even though the authorities asked that they be closed.
Trump and his top advisers have used a “horrific method” of free speech to “exclude the participation of everyone who disagrees with them,” Young said.
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A student protester waves a large Palestinian flag at their encampment on the Columbia University campus, April 29, 2024, in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/AP Photo)
The administration’s lawyers argued that the actions were part of their war against religion, including on college campuses, and argued that the people in question were “Hamas.”
Young in September sided with the plaintiffs — the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association — in ruling that the Trump administration’s actions violated the law. The first amendment.
“Trump’s misunderstanding that the government cannot simply seek revenge for speech it disparages threatens the freedom of speech of the American people,” he said at the time. “It is at this time that the judiciary rejected the president and his administration.”
However, Young said on Thursday that he plans to issue an order that provides more relief for the students than the lawyers had requested and will not grant them the stay order they requested.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, blasted the judge in a statement Thursday on Fox News Digital.
“There is no place in the United States for those who sympathize with terrorists in the world, and we are under no obligation to admit them or allow them to live here,” he said.
State Department representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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US District Judge William Young in federal court in Boston. (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts/Handout via Reuters)
This is not the first time Young has raised eyebrows with his criticism of the commander-in-chief.
Young in June ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it cut funding for NIH research grants and ordered that the funding be reinstated.
He also used the order to describe the cuts as “shocking” evidence of what he described as “racism” and “discrimination against the LGBTQ community.”
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I Supreme Court later ruled 5-4 to vacate the injunction, and two justices took the opportunity to chastise Young, to some extent, for the way he issued the opinion.
