A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's visa-restriction policy that was used to target non-US citizens working in content moderation, fact-checking, and trust and safety roles.
US District Judge James Boasberg granted a preliminary injunction this week, preventing the State Department from enforcing the policy while a lawsuit from the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR) is resolved.
The policy authorized immigration investigations into individuals suspected of helping foreign adversaries manipulate public opinion by suppressing US speech. However, during litigation, the State Department failed to prove any of the five targeted researchers had connections to foreign powers attempting to censor Americans.
Judge Boasberg noted the policy's enforcement authority had "no clear stopping point short of the content moderation field itself." He expressed concern over Secretary of State Marco Rubio's threat to expand the list of targeted researchers.
The judge's decision was broad, pausing enforcement entirely rather than limiting it to CITR members. He argued the policy placed its "enforcement thumb against one side of the scale" in the public debate over content moderation, potentially penalizing noncitizen researchers who favor more moderation over those who favor less.
The ruling protects lawful permanent residents working on trust-and-safety teams, noncitizen researchers urging stronger disinformation labels, and compliance employees applying moderation rules from having their immigration status jeopardized simply due to their professional work in the field.