What's at stake in the Mahmoud Khalil deportation fight?

The Trump administration moved this week to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate of Palestinian heritage who once led campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza. Critics say Khalil's arrest is a threat to the First Amendment and to the rights of Americans everywhere.

Khalil is a lawful permanent resident — a green card holder — who "isn't charged with a crime," said NPR. The Trump administration instead said he should be deported for protest activities that it "equates with antisemitism and support for terrorism" committed by Hamas. One obstacle, however, is that legal experts say green card holders have free speech rights. The Constitution "does not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens" when it comes to the First Amendment, said Georgetown Law professor David Cole. If the government cannot punish a citizen for speech, it also cannot "deport a foreign national for their speech."

The administration has "invoked an obscure statute" in its effort to expel Khalil, said The New York Times. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 gives Secretary of State Marco Rubio "sweeping power" to deport foreigners that authorities believe pose "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Mixed signals' about justification

The government has not presented "any indication of violent or obviously criminal behavior" by Khalil, said Andrew C. McCarthy at the National Review. However, green card holders have no right to "join with groups that endorse or espouse terrorist activity." If the federal government can prove that Khalil was in a Columbia University group that "endorsed or espoused Hamas' atrocities against Israel," it should be able to deport him, McCarthy said.

The Trump administration has offered "mixed signals" about its justification, said Aaron Blake at The Washington Post. Officials have vaguely suggested that Khalil committed a crime, while other times they have suggested the deportation effort is part of a broader push against "antisemitism and anti-Americanism." Without a detailed accusation, the "risk is that all kinds of speech could qualify" legal permanent residents for punishment, Blake said. Khalil's deportation "could be one of the most important free speech cases in recent American history."

A threat to the First Amendment?

President Donald Trump said the possible deportation is the first "of many to come," said The Associated Press. The government "will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country," the president added on social media. But a federal judge on Monday ordered officials to keep Khalil in the United States pending a legal challenge to the expulsion.

The arrest of Khalil is a "trial run," said Adam Serwer at The Atlantic. The president's comments on the case suggest he is "using the power of the state to silence people who express political views that Trump dislikes." Such threats to the First Amendment will not end with Khalil, nor with other noncitizens. If the government can detain an individual because it does not like their politics, "then no one is safe."