Ahead of a Wednesday hearing where lawyers for a Palestinian activist who is a legal permanent U.S. resident will challenge his planned deportation, the State Department and White House pointed to a provision that allows green card holders to be removed from the country if they present “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
“In such cases, the Secretary of State notifies the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, who has the authority to initiate removal charges,” a State Department spokesperson said in response to questions about the circumstances of Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest.
Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist who was arrested by federal immigration authorities at university housing Saturday, has not been criminally charged.
President Donald Trump has said the apprehension of Khalil, who organized and led pro-Palestinian rallies at Columbia last year, would be the “first arrest of many” as his administration cracks down on campus opposition to the war in Gaza.
The Department of Homeland Security has accused Khalil of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The White House on Tuesday said that pro-Hamas propaganda was distributed at the campus protests Khalil organized.
“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
A lawyer for Khalil, Samah Sisay, rejected that claim, saying there is no evidence that his client provided support of any kind to a terrorist organization.
Khalil’s legal team has also said that his arrest was a violation of his free speech rights and that he was targeted because of his viewpoints.
“He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent in violation of the First Amendment,” attorney Amy Greer said.
His arrest has prompted protests across the country as advocates call for his release.
Adam Cox, a law professor and immigration expert at New York University, said the provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act provision cited by the administration has historically been used in rare circumstances.
“If the administration began to use that in a widespread way to arrest folks and argue that they’re deportable, that would be an enormous change from historical practice,” he said.
Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said more arrests are expected. The Department of Homeland Security is using intelligence to identify more “pro-Hamas” students and has provided Columbia University with the names of others who Leavitt said “engaged in pro-Hamas activity.”
The school has declined to help the department, she said.
Khalil is being held in a detention center in Louisiana, where he has an initial hearing in immigration court scheduled for March 21.
His legal team is fighting for his return to New York City.
“I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world,” his wife, who is eight months pregnant, said in a statement released through their lawyers.
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