Mahmoud Khalil speaks during a press conference about students who were arrested and suspended for protesting at Columbia University in New York, on April 22, 2024.BING GUAN/The New York Times News Service
This is the sort of thing that happens in communist China, in theocratic Iran, in authoritarian Russia – places where thought crimes are treated as real crimes.
But on March 8, legal U.S. resident and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested at his home and detained for his political opinions. He has not been accused of doing or saying anything illegal; a White House official told the Free Press that “the allegation here is not that he was breaking the law,” which is a truly bizarre – and chilling – admission to make. The facts of this case, as currently agreed by both sides, is that Mr. Khalil has been detained for participating in legal – but wrong, as determined by the state – activities. It thus must be resisted on principle by anyone who purports to value free speech, freedom of assembly, and democracy.
Mr. Khalil was born to Palestinian refugees in Syria and is a permanent resident of the United States. He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for “activities aligned to Hamas,” according to Homeland Security, which has not been defined or explained. The government is now seeking his deportation, and it’s a clear signal to others about the dangers of running afoul of this administration’s dogma.
One can recognize this abuse of state power while also loathing the rhetoric and behaviour of the group for which Mr. Khalil allegedly assumed a leadership position, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD). CUAD was one of the groups at the forefront of the occupation of Columbia’s campus last spring, where some Jewish students reported being harassed, subjected to physical violence, and taunted with jeers that included calls to “go back to Poland.” CUAD published a deranged “tribute to Yahya Sinwar,” the mastermind behind the October 7 attack in Israel, after he was killed by Israeli forces last year, and has repeatedly praised the actions on that day – which included kidnapping of babies, murdering of entire families and rape of women – as legitimate forms of “Palestinian resistance.”
The group’s actions, in other words, are patently grotesque, and it brings me no pleasure to defend anyone associated with it. But Mr. Khalil’s specific role in CUAD has not been established by legal representatives for the government. His public involvement appears to have been mostly as a negotiator on behalf of the group in seeking Columbia’s divestment from Israel.
If Mr. Khalil’s behaviour did cross the threshold of “endors[ing] or espous[ing] terrorist activity,” which would be grounds to remove him from the country according to U.S. immigration law, the government would be making that case. Instead, it appears to be relying on an obscure provision that allows non-citizens to be deported if the Secretary of State determines an individual’s presence or activities “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” (The law also holds that non-citizens cannot be deported for activities that would be legal for citizens, except where “the Secretary of State personally determines that the alien’s admission would compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.” So it’s currently at the discretion of Marco Rubio, who has proven himself willing to sacrifice any and all so-called principles to stay onside of President Donald Trump.)
There will be an inclination, especially in the Jewish community, to celebrate – or at the very least, look the other way – as one of the prominent figures in what could be considered an antisemitic movement is arrested, detained and threatened with deportation. The diaspora Jewish community has experienced a level of hate not experienced in generations, and feels as though there have been no consequences for those who are fuelling the ire then gaslighting us about what happened. But these are the wrong consequences.
For one, it has never historically ended well for the Jews when the state starts cracking down on supposed dissidents for their political opinions. Mr. Trump could also change his views on a whim, but even if he doesn’t: we shouldn’t tolerate a precedent where a future administration, perhaps sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, could start detaining pro-Israel activists for promoting “genocide” in Gaza contrary to the U.S. foreign policy interest. This is what authoritarians do, and we should reject it even when we don’t agree with the individuals targeted.
We’d also be foolish to assume that what starts with Mr. Khalil will end with him. There could be a genuine risk to Canadian visitors in the United States when the government will so willingly forfeit due process rights for non-citizens. (The plight of Canadian Jasmine Mooney, who was sent to a detention centre for nearly two weeks after trying to renew her visa, is evidence of that.) The administration could very well move from targeting green-card-holders to citizens, similarly relying on obscure legal provisions. Or they could ignore the law altogether, which Mr. Trump has recently signalled he has few qualms about doing.
In short, Mr. Khalil’s case is a chilling sign of U.S.’s slide into autocracy. Those on all sides of the Israel-Palestine debate should resist it.