A Republican-appointed federal judge in Boston sharply ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration’s policy targeting foreign students and faculty for pro-Palestinian activism violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections. The decision by Judge William Young, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, came in a lawsuit filed by academic groups including the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association challenging visa revocations and deportations tied to political expression. The judge said the policy chilled political speech and amounted to ideological retaliation. Young wrote, "This case ... squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally 'yes, they do.'