Germany seeks to deport an American and 3 EU citizens after pro-Palestinian protest

LONDON — Berlin’s Immigration Office has told three European Union citizens and one American they are to be deported from Germany this week over alleged actions at protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Their cases have not yet been heard in court.

The four demonstrators — two from Ireland, one from Poland and one from the United States — were served with orders last month, instructing them to leave Germany by April 21 or be deported. The Berlin Immigration Office says the deportation orders are connected to a protest at Berlin’s Free University in October 2024.

Germany’s push to deport protesters supporting Palestinians has drawn comparisons with the Trump administration’s handling of pro-Palestinian student protesters in the U.S. There are concerns that by restricting the freedom of movement of the three EU citizens, these deportation orders may clash with EU law, which enshrines freedom of movement as a founding principle.

In an email to NPR, a spokesperson for the Berlin Immigration Office, Marcus Jähnke, confirmed it had revoked the residence permits of four “pro-Palestinian activists” and this was “in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest” where “masked individuals” entered a university building and caused “property damage including graffiti.”

The Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport, which is responsible for the city’s immigration office, told NPR in a statement that criminal proceedings are still “ongoing” but did not say what the individuals are charged with and said it would not comment further, citing “privacy reasons.”

Alexander Gorski, a criminal defense and migration lawyer in Berlin representing some of the protesters, says they are appealing the requirement to leave Germany by the April 21 deadline.

Irish citizen Shane O’Brien has already been given an emergency injunction pausing his expulsion and allowing him to remain in Germany until a full hearing into his case. Gorski says he is confident the other three demonstrators will receive the same — allowing them to remain in Germany to appeal their deportations.

Those served with deportation orders say they have no information about charges

Roberta Murray, a 31-year-old artist from Ireland who works in a café in Berlin, is the other Irish citizen threatened with deportation. Murray tells NPR by phone that they were in the middle of a supermarket when they first heard from their lawyer about the deportation order back in January. A letter from the Berlin Immigration Office notified Murray of the office’s intention to end Murray’s freedom of movement within the EU.

Murray has lived in Berlin for three years and has no criminal convictions. As an EU citizen, Murray has a right to settle and work anywhere in the European Union.

“I spoke to my lawyer and she said deportation can take a couple of years, and that we would fight it in the courts,” Murray says.

In March, Murray received another, much longer letter from the Berlin Immigration Office.

The letter, which NPR has reviewed, reads: “If you do not voluntarily leave the country by April 21, you are hereby threatened with deportation to Ireland.”

Cooper Longbottom, a 27-year-old student from Seattle who is studying for a master’s in social work in Berlin, received the same letter.

“I hadn’t expected it to go this way at all,” Longbottom says. “I hadn’t gotten any charges in the mail. It’s just a complete mess and not how the order of criminal law and due process is supposed to go.”

Murray and Longbottom are continuing to work and study in Berlin while they appeal the deportation notice. They say they have no intention of leaving.

“I live here with my partner. I work in a café. I make art here. I have a studio,” says Murray. “None of us are making any plans to leave. We all feel very defiant and confident that this won’t pass through the legal system.”

While Berlin authorities cite criminal proceedings against them, their lawyer Gorski says none have any criminal convictions and haven’t been given court dates or other information about the charges against them.

“We haven’t even seen the files yet,” Gorski says, “so we don’t even know what exactly our individual clients are accused of doing that day.”

The fourth protester facing possible deportation, Polish citizen Kasia Wlaszczyk, received the same letters. In an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper, Wlaszczyk, a cultural worker based in Berlin, wrote they are filing a motion of interim relief against the April 21 deadline and filed a lawsuit against the deportation.

Germany’s Staatsräson and responsibility toward Israel

The second letter sent to Murray cites the concept of Staatsräson as part of the grounds for the deportation.

The letter says, “The right of Israel to exist, its protection, and the integrity of the State of Israel are matters of German state policy” and that this is “especially significant given Germany’s historical responsibility toward Jewish people in its federal territory and in the State of Israel.”

It adds that “at no time — whether domestically or abroad — should there be any doubt that opposing movements within Germany will be tolerated in any way.”

Gorski says this is the first time he’s seen the idea used to justify deportation.

“It’s highly troubling because the Staatsräson, meaning the unconditional solidarity of Germany with the Israeli state, is not a legal concept, it’s a political concept,” Gorski says.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has said it supports the planned deportation of the protesters.

The Irish Taoiseach or Prime Minister Micheál Martin told parliament he would raise the case of the Irish nationals with the German authorities.

Longbottom, the American student, says no one from the Trump administration has been in touch regarding their case yet. In response to NPR’s request for comment, the State Department said in a written statement from the press office, “We are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen facing possible deportation from Germany. The Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad.”

Michele Kelemen contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.