Civil Action Podcast

Civil Action: Reagan Judge Blocks Trump’s “Free Speech” Deportations

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian break down Judge William Young’s extraordinary 161-page ruling blocking Trump’s deportation of pro-Palestinian students, with the Reagan-appointed judge opening by responding to a threatening postcard saying “Trump has pardons and tanks. What do you have?” with “Together we have our magnificent Constitution.” The hosts reveal how Young—an 85-year-old federal judge with 40 years on the bench—ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio violated the First Amendment by targeting students like Tufts doctoral candidate Rümeysa Öztürk, arrested by masked ICE agents for writing a pro-Palestinian op-ed in her university newspaper. They explain how Young likened masked agents to “KKK members and cowardly desperados,” warned the administration’s weaponization represents a “full-throated assault on the First Amendment,” and issued a 60-day nationwide injunction while predicting Trump will ignore his ruling.