On September 9, 2025, Texas State University Physics Department Chair Edwin L. Piner directed Professor Saeed Moshfeghyeganeh to remove a sign posted outside his office that stated: “This office is a safe space for immigrants. The person inside this office will refuse entry to immigration officers without a judicial warrant. ICE cannot enter private spaces even with an administrative warrant. You are safe here.” The directive stated the sign was “prohibited” because the university was “not allowed to have sanctuary policies.” The sign had been provided to him by the Texas State University chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). After its removal, Moshfeghyeganeh posted a revised sign reading, “This office is a safe space for immigrant students,” which the university also ordered removed. On October 13, 2025, he again replaced it with the same “safe space for immigrant students” sign, which the university likewise banned on the grounds that it “could be interpreted as exclusionary by others.”
Moshfeghyeganeh stated that, along with concerns about state law, he was told the sign was exclusionary and violated university discrimination policies. He noted that other expressive materials on campus, such as LGBTQIA+ flags and ally signs, were not required to be removed from doors or nameplates. He said he did not understand how describing his office as a “safe space” could violate state law or university policy, stating, “University policy should be that this is a safe space for students. I’m not saying that this office is something that it’s not supposed to be.” He also stated that actions such as requiring removal of his sign could signal to immigrant and international students that Texas State is not safe for them, adding that “the immigrant students are feeling afraid. There is fear among them,” and that “I don’t think that the university has to have the right to tell … what you can say and what you cannot say.”
On November 4, 2025, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter to Texas State University addressing the dispute. In that letter, FIRE stated that the dispute centered on whether the office signage constituted protected faculty speech in a private office or impermissible institutional messaging under university policy and state law, and argued that the removal directives restricted protected expression under the First Amendment and should be rescinded.
The dispute arose in the context of Texas Senate Bill 4, enacted in 2023, which expanded state and local immigration enforcement authority and prohibited state and local entities, including public institutions, from adopting policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It also occurred amid broader national immigration enforcement policy developments during and after the Trump administration, including increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement activity and heightened scrutiny of immigration-related policies affecting public institutions.
Following the September and October 2025 directives and the November 4, 2025 letter, Moshfeghyeganeh alleged that the university’s actions constituted censorship of his expression. The dispute centered on whether the office signage constituted protected faculty speech in a private office or impermissible institutional messaging under university policy and state law, with the university maintaining that its actions were based on enforcement of campus regulations and compliance obligations tied to immigration policy and official postings.
Texas State University has also faced a series of related disputes in recent years involving faculty discipline and litigation over political speech in both classroom and public contexts. These matters have included lawsuits and formal administrative challenges in which faculty members alleged retaliation or termination based on controversial political expression, with the university defending its actions as enforcement of institutional policies governing professional conduct, classroom speech boundaries, and employee responsibilities in a public university setting.
