# *Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation v. Rubio*

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attempting to use two provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act to prevent legally present noncitizens from engaging in legally protected speech.

October 15, 2025 • Legal Briefs 

By [Thomas A. Berry](https://www.cato.org/people/thomas-berry), [Dan Greenberg](https://www.cato.org/people/dan-greenberg), and Sam Rutzick 

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Learn more about [Cato’s Amicus Briefs Program](/about/cato-amicus-program).

The First Amendment prevents the government from “abridging the freedom of speech.” The federal government appears to be abridging the freedom of speech of several Stanford University students. These students are American residents, but they are not citizens. They want to exercise their First Amendment rights, but fear that doing so would open them up to deportation. They have good reason to worry.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attempting to use two provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act to prevent legally present noncitizens from engaging in legally protected speech. More precisely, Secretary Rubio is attempting to render those noncitizens subject to deportation at the “discretion” of the Secretary of State. In effect, Secretary Rubio claims that he has an absolute and unreviewable power to deport noncitizen residents if, in his judgment, their speech damages the nation’s interests. Secretary Rubio’s position chills speech. It also is at odds with the First Amendment, which contains no exception for noncitizens.

Two pseudonymous Stanford students and the Stanford student newspaper, *The Stanford Daily*, brought this suit. These students have participated in protests on behalf of Palestinians before; barring the threat of deportation that hangs over their heads, they would do so again. They believe that they are protected by the First Amendment. The government does not share this view.

For more than a century, the Supreme Court has protected the rights of noncitizen residents by recognizing their constitutional protections. Noncitizens can sue to challenge constitutional violations; they are expressly protected under the law by (among others) the First, Fifth, Seventh, and Fourteenth Amendments. The government has broad powers to restrict aliens’ entry into the nation. But once those aliens have entered the nation, the Constitution provides significant protection against government interference with their conduct.

That’s also how the Founders understood it. James Madison, writing in the aftermath of the Alien and Sedition Acts, argued that just as immigrants owed obedience to the Constitution and to the nation’s laws, so too did they deserve protection under it. Noncitizens who legally reside within the United States are protected by the Constitution in much the same way as is any citizen naturalized or born here.

Cato, joined by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Rutherford Institute, filed an amicus brief in support of the students. They ask for declaratory relief, to underscore that the First Amendment prohibits deporting noncitizen residents for their protected speech, and injunctive relief, to prohibit the defendants from deporting noncitizen residents for their protected speech.

[![Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation v. Rubio cover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/2025-10/Screenshot%202025-10-17%20at%2011.58.52%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=93lPXP9T)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2025-10/SDPC%20v.%20Rubio.pdf) 

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##### *Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation v. Rubio* 

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##### About the Authors 

[![Thomas Berry](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-02/2025-10-16-Thomas%20Berry-sq_0.jpg?itok=SW7WagUw)](/people/thomas-berry) 

##### [Thomas A. Berry](/people/thomas-berry)

Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/Thomas_A_Berry) [ 

](mailto:tberry@cato.org) 

[![Dan Greenberg cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-03/Dan%20Greenberg%20cropped.png?itok=Ze7HzJaI)](/people/dan-greenberg) 

##### [Dan Greenberg](/people/dan-greenberg)

Senior Legal Fellow

##### Sam Rutzick 

Pacific Legal Foundation

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

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