A federal judge in California said the US government was acting unconstitutionally to silence critics of Israel, criticizing the Trump administration’s effort to deport people protesting Israel’s actions on college campuses. In a Friday ruling, Judge Noel Wise delivered a victory for The Stanford Daily, the Stanford University student newspaper.

The newspaper had said some international students were afraid to speak publicly because of deportation threats. Wise wrote that free speech becomes illusory if people are free only to express favorable opinions about the government and its leaders. He also described freedom of speech and freedom of the press as foundations of America’s enduring democracy.

The Stanford Daily editor-in-chief George Portias welcomed the ruling in a post on X. He said journalists in the newsroom should not have to work with fears that writing a report could lead to their expulsion. Portias said the victory meant they would no longer have to hold such fears.