Green Card-Holding Palestinian Trump's Deporting Faces Another Legal Hurdle
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former graduate student at Columbia University, was taken into custody by immigration authorities over the weekend after allegedly violating federal immigration laws.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents apprehended Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident with a green card, on Saturday.
Initially, the agents informed Khalil that his student visa was being revoked, according to The Associated Press, which cited comments from his attorney, Amy Greer.
Greer told the AP that she had a phone conversation with the agents during the arrest and clarified that her client held a green card. At that point, an agent informed her that the green card was now being revoked instead, Greer stated, according to the AP.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X, declaring that the federal government would be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security explained that Khalil’s arrest was carried out “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” due to his role in “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” as reported by the AP.
However, on Monday, a federal judge in New York issued a temporary block on Khalil’s deportation. Judge Jesse M. Furman ruled that Khalil must stay in the United States “to preserve the court’s jurisdiction” while his case is under review, according to NBC News.
A hearing for the case is set to take place in federal court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, protesters in New York City have gathered to call for Khalil’s release.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania also spoke out in his defense, writing on social media that “Mahmoud Khalil should be at home with his 8-month pregnant wife.”
Despite these protests, federal law is explicit in stating that supporting a terrorist organization is grounds for removal from the country—an issue that presents a significant legal challenge for Khalil.
Regarding “inadmissible aliens,” U.S. immigration law identifies any foreign national who “endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization” as subject to removal.
For nearly 30 years, the U.S. government has classified Hamas as a “foreign terrorist organization,” according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The organization is known to employ a range of weaponry “to advance attacks against Israeli military forces and civilians.”
Additionally, Hamas “engages in cyber espionage, computer network exploitation, and kidnapping operations.”
Despite objections from leftist protesters and politicians, Khalil has no right to remain in the United States if he chooses to associate with a terrorist organization.
For non-citizens, residency in the U.S. is a privilege—not a guaranteed right.
Wasting the prestigious opportunity of attending an Ivy League institution and securing a promising future after graduation is a reckless decision.
The United States must not allow itself to be drawn into foreign conflicts by those seeking to bring them here.
This deportation effort should make it clear that individuals who come to this country to engage in such activities—especially in support of officially designated terrorist organizations—will not be tolerated.