Whether you believe Mahmoud Khalil deserves to be deported for antisemitic stances while a student at Columbia University or you believe he was righteously exercising his First Amendment rights, his green card revocation stinks. It is a perfect example of “we told you so” about powers granted so freely to the government, in this case by a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 covering deportable aliens and a similar one covering American citizens.
Donald Trump made it clear Khalil was arrested and his green card revoked because of his activism. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.” The…
