Debate over Khalil’s deportation sparks tensions as lawmakers clash on free speech
Lawyers for the government are seeking to move the case out of New York, while White House officials are arguing that the Columbia activist poses a national security threat.
(JTA) — Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist arrested at Columbia University, will remain in the United States and in ICE custody following a brief, highly anticipated court hearing on Wednesday.
The arrest of Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who led anti-Israel protests at Columbia, has drawn national attention. Critics of the arrest have expressed alarm over the threatened deportation of a green card holder based on his activism, saying it threatens free speech rights. The Trump administration and its defenders argue that he supported terrorism and thus violated the terms of his residency in the country.
That debate created a charged atmosphere outside the federal courtroom in downtown Manhattan Wednesday morning, where a crowd protesting for Khalil’s release — and on behalf of Palestinians — gathered ahead of the hearing. The actress Susan Sarandon, an outspoken progressive activist, was among those who came to support Khalil.
“Lift the siege on Gaza now,” the protesters chanted, some waving large Palestinian flags. “We want justice, you say how — free Mahmoud Khalil now.”
Presiding over the 30-minute hearing in a crowded courtroom was Justice Jesse Furman, a federal district judge who had halted Khalil’s deportation earlier in the week. Furman allowed Khalil’s lawyers to speak with him twice this week; previously, they had not been able to speak with their client confidentially. Khalil was not present for the hearing.
Lawyers for the government are seeking to move the case out of New York, and Furman ordered the sides to file paperwork arguing that point in the coming days. The government lawyers can file their final reply on that question by Monday at midnight. Furman also ordered the case unsealed due to the amount of attention it has received, according to the New York Post.
Furman is an observant Jew, and he and his family have faced online threats from Laura Loomer, a Jewish far-right activist, since that decision was issued.
Outside the courtroom, a member of Khalil’s legal team read a statement from his wife, who is eight months pregnant.
“My husband was kidnapped from our home and it’s shameful that the United States government continues to hold him because he stood for the rights and lives of his people,” she said, according to video in the New York Post. “His disappearance has devastated our lives.”
Khalil has not been charged with a crime, but on Wednesday, senior administration officials laid out their case for deporting him, claiming that he posed a threat to national security and could therefore be removed from the country under American immigration law because he supports Hamas.
“This is not about free speech, this is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a public appearance Wednesday.
“No one has a right to a student visa, no one has a right to a green card, by the way,” Rubio added. “I think being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down and being complicit in what are clearly crimes of vandalization … If you told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America we would have never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out.”
His comments were echoed by Tom Homan, the White House border czar, and Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary. President Donald Trump has said he plans to take similar action against other foreign student activists.
Pennsylvania lawmakers have weighed in on Khalil’s arrest and detention.
In a response to a post on X by Senate Judiciary Democrats that said, “Free Mahmoud Khalil,” Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman wrote: “Free all the hostages who have been tortured, starved, raped, beaten and STILL in tunnels in Gaza by Hamas since October 7th, 2023.”
Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick wrote on X: “…if you support terrorist organizations you have no place in our great nation.”
Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Squirrel Hill, wrote on X: “Trump’s able to criminalize dissent for one group bc the groundwork was laid by bipartisan censorship. Freedom of speech is our 1st amendment. We’re eroding our democratic principles to justify literally erasing Palestinians to appease war criminals.”
Lee is among 14 House Democrats demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil.
In a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the lawmakers said Khalil’s arrest and detention was an act of “anti-Palestinian racism intended to silence the Palestine solidarity movement in this country.”
Other representatives who signed the letter were André Carson of Indiana, Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Al Green of Texas, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Lateefah Simon of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Nydia Velázquez of New York and Nikema Williams of Georgia. PJC
Toby Tabachnick contributed to this report.
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