Trump officials fire back after federal judge calls president 'authoritarian' for deportation effort

A Reagan-appointed federal judge assailed the Trump administration's effort Thursday to deport certain pro-Palestinian protesters and academics at major universities, describing the actions as unconstitutional and "targeted" efforts to chill free speech — a characterization that prompted fierce pushback from the administration. 

U.S. District Judge William G. Young used a remedies hearing in Boston Thursday to take aim at Trump, whom he accused of acting "illegally" and "intentionally" in targeting noncitizen pro-Palestinian academic protesters on college campuses — an effort the judge described as illegal and targeting certain groups.

In response to the remarks, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that it's "bizarre that this judge is broadcasting his intent to engage in left-wing activism against the democratically elected President of the United States."

A senior DHS official also blasted the remarks from the Boston-based federal judge. 

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Young ruled in September that the actions in question violated the First Amendment and had scheduled Thursday's hearing with the intent of crafting a remedy to protect the noncitizens in question from being deported, or having their immigration status changed barring certain circumstances.

But what transpired instead was largely a stunning dressing-down of top Trump officials, including the president, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. 

"I find it breathtaking that I have been compelled on the evidence to find the conduct of such high-level officers of our government — cabinet secretaries — conspired to infringe the First Amendment rights of people with such rights here in the United States," Young said Thursday. "These cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution."

The most searing remarks of the day, however, were reserved for Trump. 

Young said Trump has continued to disregard the First Amendment in an "appalling" capacity, likening his actions to those of an "authoritarian" leader. 

"We cast around the word ‘authoritarian,'" Young said. "I don’t, in this context, treat that in a pejorative sense — and I use it carefully — but it’s fairly clear that this president believes, as an authoritarian, that when he speaks, everyone, everyone in Article II is going to toe the line absolutely."

Young used the rest of the hearing to tick through a rough outline of an order he plans to finalize and publish next week, which will enumerate the conditions under which administration officials can amend the immigration status of the academic groups in question.

He also said he planned to make public a large amount of the materials used as evidence in the case, despite the administration's request that the materials be sealed.  

Trump and his senior advisors have adopted a "fearful approach" to freedom of speech to "exclude from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them," Young said.

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Lawyers for the administration argued that the actions were part of their fight against antisemitism, including on college campuses, and had argued that the individuals in question were "pro-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 First Amendment.

Trump's "palpable misunderstanding that the government simply cannot seek retribution for speech he disdains poses a great threat to Americans’ freedom of speech," he said then. "It is at this juncture that the judiciary has robustly rebuffed the president and his administration." 

Still, Young said Thursday he planned to issue an order with a more narrowly tailored form of relief for students than the lawyers had sought and would not grant them the blanket injunction they had sought. 

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, fired back at the judge in a statement Thursday to Fox News Digital.

"There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here," she said.

Representatives for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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It’s not the first time Young has raised eyebrows for his sharp criticisms of the president.  

Young in June ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it slashed funding for NIH research grants and issued an injunction for the funding to be restored. 

He also used the order to describe the cuts as "appalling" evidence of what he described as "racial discrimination" and "discrimination against the LGBTQ community." 

The Supreme Court later ruled 5-4 to lift the injunction, and two justices took the opportunity to chastise Young, to some degree, for the manner in which he went about issuing the opinion.