Student activist detained in the US

[Odras]

I find this a bit chilling. Peaceful protest should always be protected.

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/ice-arrests-palestinian-activist-green-card-columbia-university/story?id=119616144

Infact the case against him doesn't even say that he, himself distributed literature supporting Hamas. Rather it's alleged that he organised a protest where some other people handed out pro Hamas literature.

The government is alleging that he distributed flyers from the "Hamas Media Office".

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/white-house-says-columbia-university-activist-detained-for-distributing-pro-hamas-propaganda/

There are pictures of them here:

https://nypost.com/2025/03/11/us-news/mahmoud-kalil-columbia-anti-israel-agitator-being-deported-over-pro-hamas-flyers-white-house/

He has been accused of organising a protest where allegedly such leaflets were handed out. There hasn't been any concrete clear allegations against him in the open yet. I'm glad the judge has declared that it should be made open to the public. Until then it's still not clear what charges have been made.

Trump and his administration have not provided evidence of the allegations against Khalil.
A lawyer for Khalil, Samah Sisay, rejected the Trump administration's claim, saying there is no evidence that his client provided support of any kind to a terrorist organization.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mahmoud-khalil-court-arrest-detention-immigration-green-card-rcna195990

It sounds as if the legal process is being conducted fairly. If he is proven to be guilty of promoting terrorism he should be deported .

They're still determining where the case will be heard. They will hear whatever evidence is available in due course.

"White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at a news briefing Tuesday accused Khalil of organizing “group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish-American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, flyers with the logo of Hamas"

If this is true distributing leaflets supporting Hamas isn't a great look.

No it’s not. It’s also illegal which is why I find this interesting. That they decided to pursue it from a purely immigration law point of view.

They don't need to articulate any criminal charges against him. He has broken the terms of his stay in the United States and the cheapest and most efficient way to deal with that is to deport him, not allow him to stay for an expensive trial.

I’m not buying it @AthenaPallas . The courts will decide whether he should be deported. It’s not about the cost of it.

Primarily, Trump wants to attack the left and causes seen as left leaning. But hopefully the courts will get to the truth - obviously if he is supported terrorism of course he should be deported.

No, it hasn't been proven that he has broken the terms of his stay.

It doesn't need to be proved - he's not in court, it's enough that the powers that be have decided that they don't want him in the US anymore. He has a green card apparently, but even that doesn't entitle him to stay if the State Department determine that he's supporting terrorism or breaking the law in another way.

Yes it does need to be proved. The courts will be deciding. You don’t think that people who are permanent residents can just be thrown out without due process do you?

There's an absolute uproar about the lack of due process on the Alt National Park Service fb page (which I accept is quite anti Trump). But ultimately these ae Americans who think the whole thing stinks and that yes if he is guilty of something and it's deemed his Green Card should be revoked then that's right but that there needs to be some sort of proof/hearing to determine this.

He's entitled to a hearing before a judge, and he's obviously going to get one.

It's not in the interests of the US for people to conclude that after becoming a legal resident, they can be arbitrarily deported for their political views. We want people to immigrate here legally and contribute to society. But it's a fact that some immigrants come here despite having a strong animus against the US, and if they cross the line by supporting terrorists organizations or otherwise breaking the law, they should go.

That’s entirely fair.

The Guardian have an article about him today, they seem to think that normally you do have to have committed a crime in order for a green card to be revoked:

Usually, yes. A green card is considered sacrosanct – the holy grail for immigrants seeking the right to live and work in America permanently. Typically, green card holders can only be stripped of their status if they have been convicted of a crime – and Khalil has not been accused of one.
The Trump administration, however, is relying on a rarely used provision of US immigration law to try to deport him. A charging document addressed to Khalil said that the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, “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”.

I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say a mouthy political student activist is going to have an adverse foreign policy consequence. 🤷‍♀️

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/14/israel-free-speech-mahmoud-khalil

Opinion piece by Kenneth Roth.

I like this paragraph out of the article. it articulates what I feel for a long time. Also how the Israeli administration smear organisations like Human rights watch with accusations of antisemitism. If you have smeared the people and the institutions that traditionally fight racism, well then who will really fight antisemitism? Certainly not Trump. I firmly believe he’s only doing this to attack causes that are seen as left leaning. He does not care about any form of racism.
**
As for the charge of “antisemitism”, Trump seems to be fueling a disturbing tendency to use claims of antisemitism to silence criticism of the Israeli government. Antisemitism is a serious problem that threatens Jews around the world. But if people see accusations of antisemitism as mere efforts to censor critics of Israel, it would cheapen the concept at a time when the defense against real antisemitism is urgently needed.

It's just the beginning:
https://nypost.com/2025/03/14/us-news/second-anti-israel-columbia-protester-leqaa-kordia-arrested-by-homeland-security-for-immigration-violations/

Trump seems very keen on accusing individuals and organisation of various “crimes” with no evidence and then taking steps against them. He’s currently trying to criminalise various worthwhile organisations like Habitats for Humanity who were given grants by the last govt. he’s ordered that their bank accounts are frozen as he believes they’ve defrauded the USA. No evidence of this, he just doesn’t like the fact organisations he considers “woke” have been given grants in the past. So now he’s fucking them over.

Columbia handled the protests really poorly. The problem is that Trump wants to use that to attack universities he doesn't like. He doesn't care about antisemitism a bit.

Now, if Khalil had committed a crime, okay. He could lose his green card.
if the university had taken action and expelled him, he could have lost his student visa (he switched visas in the fall). All that would be fine and within the rules.

but the government isn't even arguing he committed a crime, merely that he "supported terrorism" and is against their foreign policy, and that's not within the law. They deliberately sent him to Jena which is known for being very tough.

it is worth noting that the group he was with, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, did applaud Hamas and Hezbollah and also did study sessions on the PFLP. But Khalil's views are being conflated with CUAD. They aren't presenting evidence that he personally supports terrorism, and traditionally, mere verbal support has been considered free speech and protected. People have been prosecuted or deported for material support of terror groups, eg money or housing terrorists.

Didn't Trump say yesterday that news organisations that criticise him should be illegal? How embarrassing for Americans having that clown in the white house although they did vote him in.

t the government isn't even arguing he committed a crime, merely that he "supported terrorism" and is against their foreign policy, and that's not within the law. They deliberately sent him to Jena which is known for being very tough

I understood that “supporting terrorism “ was an offence ?

Obviously that needs to be proven in a transparent legal process.

I think this article clarifies a few things legally. So they aren’t really deporting him for “supporting terrorism” at all.

The letter he received had said; 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”.
The New York Times recently reported that the state department’s rationale is that US foreign policy to combat antisemitism around the world will be adversely affected by Khalil’s continued presence in the US.

People should be alarmed by this, no matter what side of the fence they are on. Even if he isn’t deported in the end it will have a chilling effect. The message is clear - beware if you are a green card holder and if you protest.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/14/why-was-mahmoud-khalil-arrested