The recent arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has sparked a heated debate about the rights and protections of foreign students and green card holders in the United States. Khalil, who helped organize campus protests against the war in Gaza, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday. This has raised questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are truly safe from deportation in the US.
Khalil, who is currently being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, is facing potential deportation as he awaits immigration court proceedings. His arrest has been met with criticism, with many questioning whether he is being unfairly targeted for his activism. The federal government has labeled him as a terrorist sympathizer, citing his involvement in the protests at Columbia University last spring.
But what exactly are the protections for foreign students and green card holders in the US, and what does Khalil’s case mean for them?
Firstly, it is important to understand who is considered a green card holder. A green card holder is someone who has been granted lawful permanent residence in the US. This status offers many protections, and as Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, an immigration law professor at Cornell Law School, puts it, green card holders “should be the most protected short of a US citizen.”
However, this protection is not absolute. Green card holders can still face deportation if they commit certain crimes, fail to notify immigration officials of a change in address, or engage in marriage fraud, among other things. In Khalil’s case, the Department of Homeland Security has stated that his arrest was a result of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.
The Trump administration has argued that Khalil and other protesters have forfeited their right to remain in the country by showing support for the Palestinian group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US. However, Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of anti-Semitism, stating that their protests are part of a broader anti-war movement that includes Jewish students and groups. While they have expressed support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another designated terrorist group, they have not been convicted of any terrorist-related activity or charged with any wrongdoing.
Experts say that the federal government has broad authority to arrest and try to deport a green card holder on terrorism grounds. According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders do not need to be convicted of a crime to be considered “removable.” If the secretary of homeland security or the attorney general have reasonable grounds to believe that a green card holder has engaged in or is likely to engage in terrorist activities, they can be deported. However, it is worth noting that Khalil’s alleged terrorist activity happened within the US, and it is debatable whether participating in protests qualifies as such.
One of the key issues in Khalil’s case is what ICE agents said to his lawyer at the time of his arrest. His lawyer, Amy Greer, stated that the agents initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa. However, when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead.
So what are the next steps in Khalil’s case? Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the administration will be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” While the State Department does have the authority to revoke a student visa if the person violates certain conditions, such as getting arrested for drunk driving, a lawful permanent resident generally requires an immigration judge to determine whether they can be deported.
According to Florida immigration attorney John Gihon, Khalil will receive charging documents explaining why he is being detained and why the government wants to remove him, as well as a notice to appear in immigration court. He should receive these within 72 hours of his arrest and will then make an initial appearance before an immigration judge, which could take anywhere from 10 days to a month. However, there are currently extensive delays in the immigration court system, with many detainees being moved around the country and facing long wait times for their hearings.
In the midst of all this, Khalil’s lawyers have also filed a lawsuit challenging his detention. A federal judge in New York City has ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considers his case, and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil has raised important
