Advocates warn that the U.S. government's deportation case against a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, and the subsequent arrest of others, is based solely on their protected political speech — a fact that other students at Columbia say has contributed to a climate of fear at the school.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and activist, was arrested earlier this month at this apartment in New York City, with the Trump administration claiming that his criticism of Israel undermined American foreign policy. If successful, legal experts warn that the government could use this framework to deport people for a broad variety of protected speech.
In the deportation case against Khalil, the government is leaning on a McCarthy-era provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that theoretically allows the government to deport green card holders if the government claims that their activities undermine American foreign policy.
The provision, according to the charging document, allows Secretary of State Marco Rubio to deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States, if he “has reasonable ground to believe that your presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” On Sunday, Rubio said on CBS News's "Face the Nation" that he intended to continue using the power to deport those with disfavored political beliefs.
As it stands, Khalil and his attorneys are fighting to keep his case in New York, where he lived and was arrested, instead of Louisiana, where the Trump administration took him after his arrest. If the case is heard in Louisiana immigration courts, it would be appealed to the Fifth Circuit, widely considered the most right-wing circuit court of appeals in the United States.
Matt Cameron, an immigration attorney, told Salon that despite assertions Khalil is being deported for supposed terrorist sympathies, the government has deliberately not charged Khalil with a crime, including material support for terrorism.
“He’s being charged with being a threat to our foreign policy,” Cameron said, adding that the law “explicitly allows the government to deport people for First Amendment-protected speech.”
Cameron said that, although he was aware that this law was on the books, he had never heard of the government using it in this way until now. That, he said, makes him think that Khalil is being used as a test case.
“No matter how you feel about what Israel is doing to Gaza this is purely a freedom of speech and freedom of association issue. That’s explicitly what they’re doing. If they wanted to do something else they could,” Cameron said. “It seems like they want this to be a test case and see if they can get away with deporting individuals on these very specific grounds. It’s an indicator that they’re going to try and use this for other people.”
Vera Eidelman, an attorney focusing on speech at the American Civil Liberties Union, told Salon that the case is “entirely about his protected speech and his protected viewpoints.”
“This is a radical and pretty terrifying position for the US government to take. It means that a person is not free to express their political views if their views are views the government doesn't like,” Eidelman said.
Eidelman stressed that if the courts accept the government's assertions in Khalil's case, the issue will have far-reaching implications beyond just issues relating to Israel and Palestine. She says someone could, under this legal theory, be deported for anything the government claims to be against its foreign policy interest. She also stressed that, when it comes to First Amendment rights, there is no legal distinction between non-citizens and citizens.
“That makes it pretty clear that this is part of a broader attack on free speech by the administration. They are using every power that they have to enforce ideological conformity,” Eidelman said. “It does raise serious questions about what the government could possibly say the First Amendment means when it comes to political views that they don’t like.”
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As Khalil’s case moves through the immigration courts, the arrest of Khalil has wracked Columbia University’s campus, where activists have demanded that the government return Khalil and accused the administration of attempting to deport him for his political beliefs. The targeting of another Columbia student by the government, Ranjani Srinivasani, and another Palestinian, Leqaa Kordia, has only heightened tensions.
One Columbia student protester, who identified as Jewish and was granted anonymity to speak without fear of reprisal, described to Salon a climate of fear among pro-Palestinian students.
“The fact that the current presidential administration is so much more willing to enact harm on the protesters, and take political prisoners in a way that wasn't the case last year, makes me additionally scared to speak out,” the protester said. “I also recognize that people who know Mahmoud better, or members of the community, are also more at risk to this sort of thing, being immigrants or on visas, or just people of color who might look like immigrants.”
“On the other hand, like, I am afraid, and I think that's what a lot of the Jewish students have been grappling with," the protester added. "Secret police abducting people in the middle of the night is never a good sign for any minority, especially Jewish people.”
Nerdeen Kiswani, a pro-Palestine organizer and founder of the advocacy group Within Our Lifetime, told Salon that “the abduction is part and parcel of Columbia’s agenda to stamp out pro-Palestinian activism on campus." Speaking at a protest last Friday, she said that Columbia University’s role in Khalil’s abduction was “beyond capitulation” and that this issue is the "canary in the coal mine" in terms of criminalizing political speech.
“Columbia cultivated the environment for this to happen by vilifying, demonizing and criminalizing these students to begin with, instead of working with them,” Kiswani said. “If they can criminalize speech if they can deport people on speech based on the whims of the administration, you know, it can really change any time what that speech looks like and what that speech sounds like. And Mahmoud is not the first Palestinian political prisoner or Palestinian targeted for deportation.”
In response to a request for comment from Salon, Columbia University pointed to statements from March 10, denying rumors that Columbia University requested ICE's presence on campus. In response to the arrest of Khalil, specifically, Columbia University said in a statement that it "has and will continue to follow the law" and that the university "is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting our student body and campus community."
Tatyana Tandanpolie contributed reporting to this article.
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