Your Rights as a Student Journalist

March 13th, 2025

Dear Students,

Many of you have heard the news about ICE detaining a former Columbia graduate student and threatening to revoke his green card over his political organizing. As a journalism institute, we are particularly concerned about the First Amendment issues involved and about whether this new enforcement effort might impact international students here who are exercising their rights to free speech and protest. We do not know whether anything similar will happen at NYU, but we want to share some information about your rights and about legal resources for international students.

NYU Law School’s Immigrant Defense Initiative has links to useful information on its website, including advice on what to do if you are approached by immigration officials or facing deportation. If you are approached by ICE or law enforcement, for instance, ask “Am I free to go?” You do not need to answer any questions. If they are trying to enter your home or any place on campus, they are not legally allowed to enter without a warrant signed by a judge. Here’s a useful primer on non-citizen rights from the National Immigrant Justice Center.

For those in need of legal representation, you can reach out to NYU’s Immigrant Defense Initiative directly at immigrant.defense@law.nyu.edu or (212) 998-6435. In addition, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has launched a 24/7 Legal Intake Hotline, which can be reached at 844-ADC-9955.

International students are particularly vulnerable right now, but we also want to make sure that all of our student journalists are aware of their First Amendment rights and resources available to them. Our department’s First Amendment Watch has compiled important information about free speech rights on campus with information here about the right to protest and how it is protected under the First Amendment and information here about your First Amendment right to record the police.

If your First Amendment rights as a journalist are threatened, you can reach out to the following organizations for assistance:

  1.  Student Press Law Center. Use the hotline.
  2.  Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Use the hotline or, in an emergency outside business hours, call 800-336-4243.
  3. Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression (FIRE). Use the hotline or call 717-734-7734.

You can find NYU’s protocols regarding immigration enforcement in a memo that was issued last month by the university’s Office of the General Counsel. The general counsel’s office says that NYU does not voluntarily provide information about university community members to government agencies unless it is legally required to do so. It also says that law enforcement must produce a judicial warrant or subpoena to enter NYU facilities for immigration-related enforcement purposes and that campus security officers are aware of—and have been trained on—this protocol.

Please know that this department supports you and your First Amendment rights. If you have specific concerns you’d like to discuss, please reach out to us.

Best,

Charles Seife

Professor

Director, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

Rachel L. Swarns

Associate Professor

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Stephen D. Solomon

Professor

Founding editor, First Amendment Watch

Director, Business & Economic Reporting

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