Marco Rubio personally signed off on arrests of pro-Palestine students, documents show
Marco Rubio signed off on the arrest of 5 pro-Palestinian protesters
- Government documents unsealed by a federal judge reveal that Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally approved the arrest and removal of five international student activists due to their Palestinian advocacy and writings against the war in Gaza.
- District Judge William Young found that administration officials, including Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, engaged in an "unconstitutional conspiracy" by violating the students' First Amendment rights.
- Internal memos show that a senior diplomat cautioned Rubio against targeting these students, warning that stripping visas over speech-protected actions would likely lead to lawsuits.
- Despite officials alleging antisemitism and support for terrorist groups, internal documents indicated a lack of evidence for such claims, with one memo explicitly stating no evidence of antisemitic activity or support for a terrorist organisation by a targeted scholar.
- The judge's ruling ordered that any further attempts to deport the students involved in the lawsuit would likely be considered unlawful retaliation, though the administration is still seeking their deportation.