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From Fox News: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reserves the right to revoke former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil’s green card or visa.
Leavitt said that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are “adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America.”
“And Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges, and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists, who have killed innocent men, women and children,” Leavitt said at the White House press briefing. “This is an individual who organized 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 fliers with the logo of Hamas. That is the behavior and activity that this individual engaged in.”
Leavitt said the Department of Homeland Security provided her with those fliers, which she says were distributed with the help of Khalil on the Columbia University campus and are now on her desk.
“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,” Leavitt declared, adding, “We have a zero-tolerance policy for siding with terrorists. Period.”
WATCH:
Progressive Democrats are fuming over Khalil’s capture and pending deportation.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Palestinian American and anti-Israel activist, announced Tuesday in a post on X, “I’m joining 13 of my colleagues to demand that the Trump Administration immediately releases Mahmoud Khalil. Their illegal actions set a dangerous precedent. We cannot allow them to shred our constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Free Mahmoud Khalil.”
In addition to Tlaib, the letter is signed by progressive Democrat Reps. Mark Pocan, Delia Ramierez, Ilhan Omar, Jasmine Crockett, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley, Nydia Velazquez, Lateefah Simon, Gwen Moore, Nikema Williams, Al Green, Andre Carson and James McGovern.
Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) went on a rampage during a hearing on Tuesday, defending Tahlil, who had been promoting Hamas in the United States.
“Trump revoked Mahmoud Khalil’s legal status over his decision to speak out—which isn’t a crime. Every Member of Congress should be outraged at this blatant erosion of our constitutional rights. We are beyond just a slippery slope,” Lee claimed.
Somalian refugee Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) raged, “I signed a letter asking for Mahmoud Khalil’s immediate release. We will not let this administration trample our constitutional rights and silence voices they don’t like. Free Mahmoud Khalil.”
Fellow ‘Squad’ Rep. Ayanna Pressley demanded, “Mahmoud Khalil should be at home with his pregnant wife. Instead, he’s been illegally abducted & had his constitutional right to free speech & due process stripped. We’re demanding his immediate release and we cannot allow this abuse of power to go unchecked. #FreeMahmoudKhalil.”
Meanwhile, a group of protesters at Columbia University rallied in support of Khalil and raged against ICE on Tuesday.
“No borders, no nations! Stop the deportations!” they chanted.
The protests in New York got wild and violent Tuesday afternoon:
One person who had previously defended Kahlil has now backtracked after learning the truth about him. In a Facebook post Tuesday, Amy Soper wrote:
I have removed my original post regarding Mahmoud Khalil and would first like to apologize for sharing information before knowing all the facts. Those who know me understand i would never purposely share propaganda. The truth is I got caught up in the fear of having my best friend (a green card holder and legal american) deported for no reason. This is not what happened.
Khalil had his green card revoked, not because of just leading protestests, it was specifically because his protests were in favor of Hamas, and very clearly antisemitic. I shared my outrage before knowing this and should have waited to hear the factual reasons before sharing.
I sincerely apologize for inadvertently sympathizing with a person whom I would never support. I hope this helps others to pay better attention before sharing half-truths, especially ones like these that can be severely hurtful to those you love and do support. I’m especially so, so sorry to my own Jewish friends and family for any hurt this has caused you.
ETA- Regardless of the deplorable actions of this man, I am also extremely afraid of how these policies will change and affect others – all of us – going forward.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released the following statement Tuesday:
I abhor many of the opinions and policies that Mahmoud Khalil holds and supports, and have made my criticism of the antisemitic actions at Columbia loudly known. Mr. Khalil is also legal permanent resident here, and his wife, who is 8-months pregnant, is an American citizen.
While he may well be in violation of various campus rules regarding how the protests were conducted last year, that is a matter for the university to pursue, and I have encouraged them to be much more robust in how they combat antisemitism and maintain a harassment-free campus that protects the safety and security of Jewish and other students.
The Trump administration’s DHS must articulate any criminal charges or facts that would justify his detention or the initiation of deportation proceedings against him. If the administration cannot prove he has violated any criminal law to justify taking this severe action and is doing it for the opinions he has expressed, then that is wrong, they are violating the First Amendment protections we all enjoy and should drop their wrongheaded action.
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