A federal judge ruled that Florida International University’s (FIU) violated the First Amendment rights of students protesting the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on campus.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Jacqueline Becerra temporarily halted a university policy that bars protests and other demonstrations inside campus buildings.
From WLRN:
In a move that students and their attorney allege is a gross violation of the First Amendment, Florida International University is moving forward with disciplinary actions against seven students who participated in a silent protest at a campus event in March.
The students this week were given a written reprimand, and are being ordered to record videos about FIU policies they allegedly violated.
They told WLRN they worry the videos could force them to express opinions they do not agree with.
The basic facts of the case are undisputed: A group of students sat in the audience while FIU President Jeanette Nuñez held an on-campus event March 13 with former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez. About a half hour into the program, students stood up and unveiled shirts that said “ICE OFF FIU,” and stood silently for a few minutes. They then left the event.
FIU maintains that the silent protest violated a campus policy against “expressive activities” taking place indoors.
The school’s own policies specify that “expressive activities” include “protests, parades, marches,” as well as the broad, catch-all phrase "exercises in free speech.” University policies further underscore that all those activities are “protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
A Florida University FIU has told seven students that they won’t get their diplomas unless they record a video apologizing for wearing ICE Out shirts. FIU President Nunez was a DeSantis Lieutenant Governor. Any speech that is not disrupted is protected by the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/6sWIOQbuK4
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) July 19, 2026
Judge Becerra, in her ruling, noted that the students stood silently in the building for one to three minutes during an interview with the school’s president in the 700-seat auditorium before leaving. Event staff said the students’ actions did not disrupt the event and that there were no complaints.
“They said nothing. They carried nothing in their hands,” the judge wrote. She further noted that “From the evidence presented to date, it does not appear that Defendant Nunez or the speaker noticed these students, and if they did, the interview proceeded without any interruption.”
FIU Threatens to Withhold Diplomas Unless Students Apologize for ICE Protest pic.twitter.com/4WMRotTMJA
— Tom Powell Jr (@RealTomPowellJr) July 6, 2026
The judge cited Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and subsequent Eleventh Circuit applications noting that the First Amendment protects student speech unless it causes disruption.
“Nearly sixty years after it was decided, the Tinker standard still governs: student speech cannot be restrained unless it ‘materially disrupts’ or ‘involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others,” Becerra wrote.
