President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding for universities allowing "illegal protests" in a social media post on March 4, drawing input from legal professionals who see the move as a potential intimidation tactic.
MLive published article “Trump threatens to deport ‘illegal’ protesters. Legal experts call it just an intimidation tactic,” covering the legal perspective on the latest threat to the First Amendment.
Brian Wassom, a First Amendment attorney at Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, highlighted a hole in Trump's statement: The lack of definition for what constitutes an "illegal" protest. "This ambiguity pressures universities to suppress controversial speech and could lead students and educators to overcompensate by self-censoring activities that may or may not be unlawful," Wassom explained.
Trump’s post also suggested that non-citizen protesters would face deportation, and American students would be expelled or arrested. While protests related to the Israel-Hamas war have led to arrests at campuses like the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, legal commentators argue that Trump's threats exceed presidential authority.
Wassom emphasized that the vague language in Trump’s post appears designed to intimidate institutions into limiting free expression. Constitutional law scholar Richard Primus added that the president lacks unilateral power to withhold funding or expel students, reinforcing that universities should uphold their own policies while safeguarding free speech.
The ACLU also denounced Trump’s remarks, comparing them to McCarthy-era suppression tactics and urging universities to resist federal pressure to police constitutionally protected speech.
The full article can be read here.
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