Below are highlights from the trial before Judge William G. Young in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 

July 18, 2025

  • Official Confirms State Department Considered Statements Critical of Israel and U.S. in Revoking Foreign Students’ Visas (Press Release).
    • John Armstrong, the most senior official at the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that he either gave final approval or passed to Secretary Rubio the “action memos” approving Rümeysa Öztürk’s visa revocation and Mahmoud Khalil’s determination of removability.
    • Under questioning from Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP, Armstrong admitted that statements critical of Israel or U.S. foreign policy could qualify a visa or green card holder for deportation. He also conceded that Öztürk’s action memo highlighted her op-ed and her attenuated connection with a pro-Palestinian student group.

    • The court also heard from Veena Dubal, the general counsel of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Dubal explained that the ideological deportation policy has fundamentally altered AAUP’s activities, spurring the organization to advocate for its noncitizen members whose academic freedom and immigration status is under threat. She was questioned by Xiangnong (George) Wang of the Knight First Amendment Institute.

    • Closing arguments will begin this coming Monday, July 21 at 10 am ET after a short discussion of the parties’ remaining documentary evidence starting at 9 am ET.

July 17, 2025

  • I Signed Letters Referring Student Protesters for Deportation, ICE Official Testifies (Press Release).
    • A senior Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official testified that he signed the letters referring Rümeysa Öztürk, Mahmoud Khalil, and other student protesters to the State Department for visa revocation or a determination of removability.
      • The official, Andre Watson, leads the National Security Division in ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit. Watson testified that, beginning in early 2025, ICE and the State Department coordinated on a new process to implement President Trump’s executive orders targeting student protesters. In this process, HSI’s Office of Intelligence would collect names based on referrals and write dossiers on those people. (Peter Hatch, a senior official in the Office of Intelligence, testified last week that many of those names came from the Canary Mission website.) The Office of Intelligence would then pass some of these dossiers on to Watson, who would in turn refer them to the State Department. Watson admitted that he has never declined to refer a case to the State Department.

      • Watson testified that the referral letters he signed—entered into evidence by the court but not shown to the public gallery—rely on the Office of Intelligence’s dossiers, which discuss protesters’ pro-Palestinian views and include material from Canary Mission.

      • Watson also admitted that the letter referring Khalil to the State Department was sent only one day before Khalil’s arrest. He was cross-examined by Ramya Krishnan of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

    • Tomorrow’s witnesses: John Armstrong, the most senior official in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs; and Veena Dubal, a law professor at UC Irvine and the general counsel of the AAUP.

July 15, 2025

  • Senior Officials Pushed for Arrests of Student Protesters, ICE Agents Testify (Press Release).

    • Four ICE agents who oversaw the arrests of Rümeysa Öztürk, Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Badar Khan Suri testified today. Some of these agents told the court that they had never been asked to conduct an arrest based on similar legal or factual grounds. And some reported that they were instructed to prioritize the arrests by senior ICE officials.

      • William Crogan, then an agent at ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit in New England, recounted his participation in Mahdawi’s arrest. He stated that, before Secretary Rubio’s determination of removability for Mahdawi, he had never seen a document determining a noncitizen removable on similar legal grounds in his 20-plus years at HSI. He testified that he had never seen a noncitizen removed from the United States based on similar factual allegations. And he explained that his supervisors both gave him advance notice of Secretary Rubio’s determination and instructed him to prioritize the case. Crogan was cross-examined by Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP.

      • Patrick Cunningham, an agent at HSI’s Boston field office, testified that, before Öztürk’s detention, he had never seen an arrest based on similar factual or legal allegations, and that he was instructed by his superiors to prioritize the case. Cunningham was cross-examined by Michael Tremonte of Sher Tremonte LLP.

      • Darren McCormack, an agent at HSI’s New York field office, testified that the request to arrest Khalil was unusual, that it came from high-level officials at ICE, that he received advanced notice of Secretary Rubio’s determination, and that it was relayed to him that Secretary Rubio and/or the White House were interested in Khalil’s case. McCormack was cross-examined by Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP.

    • The ICE agents also testified that there is no uniform agency policy on whether and when officers may wear masks when conducting arrests, but that they have allowed the officers under their command to wear them.
    • Tomorrow, July 16, is a day off. Trial will resume on Thursday, July 17.

July 14, 2025

  • Court Addresses Evidentiary Privileges, Will Hear Testimony from ICE Officials Tomorrow (Press Release).
    • The court addressed the government’s invocation of certain evidentiary privileges, stating that he had previously rejected the government’s overbroad assertion of the law enforcement privilege, sustaining to a limited extent its reliance on the deliberative process privilege, and deferring decision as to the government’s invocation of the presidential communications privilege to withhold a report written by the Department of State and addressing “Authorities to Counter Anti-Semitism and Recommendations for Familiarizing Institutions of Higher Education with the Security and Related Grounds for Visa Inadmissibility.”  

    • The court said it would hear tomorrow from ICE officials, including Patrick Cunningham, William Crogan, and Darren McCormack.

July 11, 2025

  • First Week of Trial in Challenge to Trump Administration’s Ideological Deportation Policy Wraps Up (Press Release).

    • Closing out the first week of testimony, two senior officials in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs testified about State’s process for revoking student visas and issuing determinations of removability for green card holders. 

      • During testimony by Maureen Smith, a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the government invoked the presidential communications privilege to block questioning about the Homeland Security Council. Smith was cross-examined by Scott Wilkens of the Knight First Amendment Institute. 

      • John Armstrong, the most senior official in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, denied that there was any ideological deportation policy but confirmed that he has reviewed between 15 and 20 memos recommending action against student protesters. Armstrong was cross-examined by Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP. His cross examination will continue Monday. 

    • Late on Thursday evening, the government filed papers in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit—the appellate court that sits above Judge Young—challenging his decision to release government documents to the plaintiffs. As an interim measure, the First Circuit paused further disclosure of certain government documents in an order that Judge Young received and read in open court this afternoon. 

    • Monday’s expected witnesses: John Armstrong, the Senior Bureau Official in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, and Jeffrey Reger, the Executive Director of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). 

July 10, 2025

  • DHS Dossiers on Öztürk, Khalil, Other Students Focused on Their Pro-Palestinian Speech, ICE Official Testifies (Press Release). 

    • A senior ICE official testified in court today that the dossiers the agency compiled on Rümeysa Öztürk, Mahmoud Khalil, and others highlighted their pro-Palestinian speech and association. After Judge Young provided the dossiers to the plaintiffs this morning, they were admitted into evidence and shown in open court—the first time that anyone outside the government has seen these documents.

      • The official testified that Öztürk’s dossier included her student newspaper op-ed. The dossier also incorporated Öztürk’s page on the Canary Mission website.

      • The official likewise testified that Khalil’s dossier referenced news articles about his participation in pro-Palestinian protests and his page on the Canary Mission website.

    • The official, Peter Hatch, helps lead an office within ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division that compiles background reports on targets of the agency’s investigations. He was questioned by Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP.

    • The court later heard testimony from Amy Greer, one of Khalil’s lawyers, who described Khalil’s March 8 arrest by federal agents. She was questioned by Noam Biale of Sher Tremonte LLP.

    • Tomorrow’s expected witnesses: John Armstrong, the Senior Bureau Official in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, and Maureen Smith, a Senior Advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.

July 9, 2025

  • DHS “Tiger Team” Scrutinizing Student Protesters Was Told to Investigate 5,000 Names Listed by Canary Mission, ICE Official Testifies (Press Release). 

    • A senior Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official testified that the agency assembled a team in early 2025 to investigate student protesters. The team—referred to internally as the “Tiger Team”— rapidly compiled over 100 reports based on a list of 5,000 people identified on the Canary Mission website. 
    • The official, Peter Hatch, helps lead an office within ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division that compiles background reports on targets of the agency’s investigations. He was questioned by Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP. 
    • Tomorrow’s expected witnesses: Peter Hatch, a DHS official who is the Assistant Director of the Office of Intelligence in Homeland Security Investigations and Amy Greer, a lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil.

July 8, 2025

  • The court continued to hear testimony from noncitizen witnesses who changed their behavior after learning about the arrests of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil.

    • Nadje Al-Ali, an anthropology and Middle East studies professor at Brown, continued her testimony, which began yesterday. She explained that, since the arrests of Öztürk and Khalil, she has refrained from signing public letters or engaging in public advocacy on Palestine. Al-Ali was questioned by Noam Biale of Sher Tremonte LLP.

    • Bernhard Nickel, a philosophy professor at Harvard, testified that he stopped attending protests, stopped signing public statements related to Palestine, and cancelled planned international travel after learning about Öztürk’s arrest. Nickel was questioned by Noam Biale of Sher Tremonte LLP.

    • Nadia Abu El-Haj, an anthropology professor at Barnard, testified that Khalil’s arrest terrified her noncitizen students into silence. Abu El-Haj was questioned by Alexandra Conlon of Sher Tremonte LLP.

  • The court also heard from witnesses who authenticated key pieces of evidence. 

    • Mike Mathis, whose home security system captured footage of Öztürk’s arrest, authenticated that widely circulated footage. Mathis was questioned by George Wang of the Knight First Amendment Institute. 

    • Sara Johnson, a professor at Tufts and Öztürk’s academic advisor, confirmed that Öztürk was the person arrested in that video footage and authenticated Öztürk’s profile on the website Canary Mission. Johnson was questioned by Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute. 

    • Tomorrow’s expected witness: Peter Hatch, a DHS official who is the Assistant Director of the Office of Intelligence in Homeland Security Investigations. 

July 7, 2025

  • The court heard opening statements from both plaintiffs and the government.
    • In their opening statement, plaintiffs explained that the evidence at trial will show (1) a cross-government effort to target, arrest, and deport noncitizens for pro-Palestinian speech, and (2) that this policy chilled the speech and association of plaintiffs’ members and plaintiffs themselves, creating a culture of repression not seen since the McCarthy era. 

    • In its opening statement, the government conceded that noncitizens lawfully present in the United States have the same First Amendment rights as citizens. But it later walked back that concession, claiming that there are “nuances” related to national security, immigration, and foreign policy.

  • The court then heard testimony from two noncitizen witnesses who changed their behavior after learning about the arrests of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil.  
    • Megan Hyska, a philosophy professor at Northwestern University, testified that because of the government’s policy, she curtailed her protest activity, refrained from publishing an op-ed that she drafted, and declined to pursue leadership positions in a political organization that she belongs to. 

    • Nadje Al-Ali, an anthropology and Middle East studies professor at Brown University, testified that because of the government’s policy, she pulled out of research fellowships abroad and stopped pursuing a research project related to Palestine.  

Daily court transcripts from the trial in AAUP v. Rubio can be found here. 

Lawyers on the case include Ramya Krishnan, Jameel Jaffer, Alex Abdo, Scott Wilkens, Carrie DeCell, Xiangnong (George) Wang, Talya Nevins, and Jackson Busch for the Knight First Amendment Institute, Ahilan Arulanantham, Michael Tremonte and Noam Biale for Sher Tremonte, and Edwina Clarke and David Zimmer for Zimmer, Citron & Clarke.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected].