The Sickness of Our Universities—and the Cure

[TBoneTX 46,452]

Get them all!

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ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests, his lawyer says

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in protests against Israel at Columbia University, according to his attorney.

Mahmoud Khalil was inside a university-owned residence Saturday night near Columbia's Manhattan campus when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered his apartment and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.

Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil's student visa.  Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.  [...]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-arrests-palestinian-activist-helped-162258497.html

[SJinCA 36]

Quote

 

A Columbia University student who helped lead last year’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations has been arrested by federal immigration authorities. Mahmoud Khalil was detained Saturday night by Department of Homeland Security agents, according to his lawyer Amy Greer. The agents said they were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke his green card, Greer said.

 

Multiple immigration agents took Khalil into custody around 8:30 p.m. after entering his building, which is owned by Columbia University, according to his lawyer. Khalil, who is Palestinian and Syrian, was able to call Greer from the lobby, she said, and one of the agents got on the phone to speak to her. When the agent told her the State Department had revoked his student visa, Greer said she informed the agent that Khalil is a lawful permanent resident. “And the agent said they revoked that too,” said Greer. The agent hung up when she said she needed to see a warrant before Khalil could be detained, according to Greer. 

 

 

Full article here. Emphasis mine.

 

1. What authority does the State Department have to revoke an individual's LPR? Surely this is just Marco Rubio posturing for 2028?
2. How concerning is it to you that participating in First Amendment activity disfavorable to the current administration could be grounds for revoking an individual's LPR? Would this mean that lawful permanent residents, in effect, are no longer protected by the First Amendment, contrary to Supreme Court precedent? 

[Dashinka 25,011]

10 hours ago, SJinCA said:

 

Full article here. Emphasis mine.

 

1. What authority does the State Department have to revoke an individual's LPR? Surely this is just Marco Rubio posturing for 2028?
2. How concerning is it to you that participating in First Amendment activity disfavorable to the current administration could be grounds for revoking an individual's LPR? Would this mean that lawful permanent residents, in effect, are no longer protected by the First Amendment, contrary to Supreme Court precedent? 

I will wait for the whole story before judging.  I suspect one of the questions is did he provide material support for Hamas, but did not disclose it when he got his LPR status (AOS or consular processing)?  I have no idea if he did, I understand he worked with UNRWA for some time, and that agency had or has murky ties to Hamas.  As to violating his first amendment rights, I understand some of those Columbia protests were quite violent, and damaging to property, etc.  I guess if you are OK with Jan. 6th rioters being punished for violating the Capitol grounds/building (I am), then someone leading a protest that breaks laws, damages property, or violates the rights of others can be prosecuted and punished.

 

As I said, time will tell how this goes, but I suspect there is a reason Mr. Khalil was the 1st targeted individual.  Whether that reason is valid remains to be seen.

[SJinCA 36]

24 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

I will wait for the whole story before judging.  I suspect one of the questions is did he provide material support for Hamas, but did not disclose it when he got his LPR status (AOS or consular processing)?  I have no idea if he did, I understand he worked with UNRWA for some time, and that agency had or has murky ties to Hamas.  As to violating his first amendment rights, I understand some of those Columbia protests were quite violent, and damaging to property, etc.  I guess if you are OK with Jan. 6th rioters being punished for violating the Capitol grounds/building (I am), then someone leading a protest that breaks laws, damages property, or violates the rights of others can be prosecuted and punished.

 

As I said, time will tell how this goes, but I suspect there is a reason Mr. Khalil was the 1st targeted individual.  Whether that reason is valid remains to be seen.

Other reporting is saying that his spouse is a USC, and he was previously on a student visa, so he presumably got his green card through AOS. 

 

It beggars belief that the State Department somehow missed any past affiliation with "terrorist" groups on a visa application from a Palestinian/Syrian national and only just now caught them, coincidentally at the same time the President has been calling for student activists to be arrested and/or deported for supporting the Palestinian cause. Khalil was the first targeted individual because he's been a prominent leader of student protests at the university most closely associated with the pro-Palestinian protests, and the administration thought he would be an easy target because he isn't a U.S. citizen. (I read some speculation that no one involved in this operation even realized that Khalil was an LPR, and just presumed it would be as easy as revoking his no-longer-current student visa.)

 

Columbia had previously taken steps to discipline Khalil, but eventually backed down. Particularly given the scrutiny and pressure to act they're now under, they presumably would have continued the disciplinary process if they had any evidence he was directly involved in any sort of violence or vandalism. In Khalil's own words, “They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they’re doing something, regardless of the stakes for students. It’s mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech.” Source: AP

 

[TBoneTX 46,452]

This editorial is well-written and excellently reasoned.

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Pro-Hamas foreigners here on student visas better pack their bags

 

The State Department announced an initiative to cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other organizations designated as terrorist groups, a welcome addition to President Donald Trump's "revolution of common sense."

The effort will include an AI-fueled review of tens of thousands of social media accounts belonging to individuals in the Student Exchange Visitor System.  Known as "Catch and Revoke," the program will search for evidence of activism in support of Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel that killed 1,200 innocent Israelis.  [...]
 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/3341255/pro-hamas-foreigners-student-visas-pack-bags/

Edited 14 hours ago by TBoneTX

[Dashinka 25,011]

Here is what I find troubling with the media reporting on Mr. Khalil, the synchronized MSM is of course painting him out to be some sort of victim even though there is credible evidence online of his support of pro-Hamas activities, and the rest of the media has no clue as to immigration.  The simple fact is this person is an LPR, so there is no student visa to cancel SO STOP SAYING HIS STUDENT VISA IS BEING REVOKED (sorry for the shouting)!  If the government has evidence he lied on an I485, or has since provided support for a terrorist organization like Hamas, then this needs to go in front of an immigration judge.  We always say only an IJ can take away someone's LPR status (not Trump, not Rubio, not Noem...), so take the evidence there, even get an expedited hearing (I understand high ranking government officials can get those), and get this over with.