The Oberlin Review joined student news organizations from around the country in signing an amicus brief supporting The Stanford Daily in its recently-filed federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. The brief was filed Oct. 15 by a Student Press Law Center-led coalition against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, defending student journalism and free speech of international students. 

The coalition includes the Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Association, Student Press Law Center, and 55 student news organizations and newsroom leaders, from seven of the eight Ivy Leagues to a range of state and community colleges.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 6, challenges two federal immigration laws that the Trump administration has used to arrest and attempt to deport foreign students who have criticized the Israeli government. 

“The Student Press Amici submits this brief in support of Plaintiffs because current and former student journalists — including those who work at The Stanford Daily and untold numbers of their peers, citizen and noncitizen alike, at student media outlets across the United States — have seen their work and the vital lessons they learn from it hampered for the better part of a year of by the unconstitutional chilling effects of the government’s attack on disfavored political speech by noncitizen students,” the brief reads.

The brief states that the Trump administration’s use of the Revocation and Deportation Acts has made international students no longer feel comfortable publishing content in newspapers that is critical of the U.S. Using stories from several student newspapers, including those of the University of Michigan and Northeastern University, it discusses how student newspapers across the country have lost valuable international voices and perspectives while fielding consistent requests to take down content from concerned writers. It also points to a rise in requests for anonymity in interviews, which some experts say can weaken these newspapers’ credibility. 

From January to August, the Trump administration revoked over 6,000 student visas and has attempted to undermine the power of universities, including Harvard University, to sponsor visas for international students.

“Student media is where the next generation engages with the essential skills and principles of democracy,” Gary Green, executive director of the Student Press Law Center said. “When the government threatens international students for exercising their right to free speech, it doesn’t just silence those students — it undermines the core principles that make student journalism, and our democracy, possible.”

The case is scheduled to be heard at 9 a.m. Nov. 19 in the San Jose Division in the Northern District of California.