Judge denies government motion to dismiss Stanford Daily lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Noël Wise denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss The Stanford Daily’s lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Friday. 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed the lawsuit on behalf of The Daily and two non-Daily students on Aug. 6. The suit alleges that international students had declined to write for the publication or offer comments concerning political subjects, including the Israel-Palestine conflict, fearing government retaliation and potential loss of their visas. The two non-Daily plaintiffs, “who engaged in pro-Palestinian speech… now fear deportation and visa revocation because of their expression,” according to a FIRE press release.

Following an initial hearing on Nov. 19, the government filed the motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Dec. 12, claiming the plaintiffs’ complaint “lacks standing.” 

“Plaintiffs have put forward various theories for why they can invoke this Court’s Article III jurisdiction, but all of them fail because Plaintiffs have not shown they face an imminent injury that is traceable to the federal government,” the government wrote in the motion.

Wise disagreed, writing in the rejection of the dismissal that “Stanford Daily has alleged sufficient facts to show that noncitizen members of Stanford Daily satisfy Article III standing on their own due to well-founded fears of immigration consequences for engaging in pro-Palestine expression.”

The Daily based its suit on the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration law, alleging it negatively impacted the participation of international students in Daily reporting, according to a Letter from the Editor published on Aug. 7. The letter and complaint noted that some international students feared deportation over writing or commenting on political subjects.

“The Daily is pursuing this case because we believe that no student, writer or community member should fear retaliation for sharing an opinion or comment in our publication,” wrote Greta Reich ’26, The Daily’s editor-in-chief, in a message to The Daily. “Our participation is grounded in guarding our First Amendment rights and ensuring that The Daily’s writers and editors can fulfill our mandate as a student paper: covering this campus to the best of our abilities.”

In November, 55 student news organizations joined an amicus brief to corroborate the chilling effect of the Trump administration’s immigration policies on student publications. 

In response to the motion to dismiss the case, plaintiffs wrote, “the Trump administration has used, promised to use, and continues using the Revocation and Deportation Provisions to target lawfully present noncitizens like Jane Doe, John Doe, and Stanford Daily’s members for protected speech about the Middle East, American foreign policy, and American Politics.”

Wise’s order mandates that the government respond to the plaintiffs’ complaint by Jan. 28. 

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