The Sickness of Our Universities—and the Cure

[TBoneTX 46,715]

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 37]

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 25,212]

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 37]

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 46,715]

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 March 11 by TBoneTX

[Dashinka 25,212]

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.

[TBoneTX 46,715]

Rubio Destroys Reporter Over Stupid Question About Mahmoud Khalil's Green Card Being Revoked

 

The White House confirmed Tuesday that the Trump administration invoked a little-known provision of federal immigration law to arrest pro-Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil.  The move grants Secretary of State Marco Rubio broad authority to declare individuals "deportable."  And, predictably, the radical left is furious.

On Wednesday, a reporter thought he had cornered Rubio with a question, and ended up getting destroyed as a result.  [...]

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/12/rubio-destroys-reporter-over-stupid-question-about-mahmoud-khalils-green-card-being-revoked-n4937854

[Dashinka 25,212]

Still speculation, but fairly comprehensive analysis of what is most likely occurring here with respect to Mr. Khalil.

ICE Arrests Palestinian ‘Activist’

 

Confusingly, press reports indicate that Khalil has both a student visa and lawful permanent resident status (“LPR”, that is, a green card). By law, one cannot be both a nonimmigrant and an immigrant, so there’s likely a lot more to his immigration history, and my guess is that he recently adjusted his status.

 

Section 237(a)(4)(C)(i). Even more confusing is the specific ground of removal in Khalil’s case.

 

Generally — and somewhat elliptically — LPRs can only be taken into ICE custody, detained, prosecuted, and removed if they have done something that would render them deportable on one or more of the grounds of deportation in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

 

The criminal grounds in section 237(a)(2) of the INA are the most common immigration charges lodged against LPRs, but nothing suggests that Khalil has a criminal record per se.

 

It’s more likely that the government is alleging that Khalil is removable under the “security and related grounds” of removal in section 237(a)(4) of the INA. Let me explain.

 

AP interviewed Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer, and she claims that ICE officers told her that “they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa”.

 

That itself is confusing, because aside from issuing visas at consulates abroad, the State Department usually doesn’t get involved in immigration issues domestically.

 

Except when the department actively gets involved in domestic immigration issues.

 

Which brings me to section 237(a)(4)(C)(i) of the INA. It renders deportable any alien “whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.

 

https://cis.org/Arthur/ICE-Arrests-Palestinian-Activist

[Dashinka 25,212]

Another analysis.  This will be an interesting follow, and it should be pointed out that neither of these touched anything related to Freedom of Speech.

 

https://cis.org/Fishman/It-Constitutional-Deport-Ringleader-Columbia-Universitys-ProHamas-Demonstrations

[TBoneTX 46,715]

Got another one.

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Homeland Security Arrests Another Pro-Hamas Protester, Who's Next?

 

Federal agents have arrested another immigrant who participated in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday announced that Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested for overstaying her F-1 student visa.  The student's visa expired on January 26, 2022, "for lack of attendance," according to a DHS press release.

DHS also noted that Indian national Ranjani Srinivasan chose to self-deport after being "involved in activities supporting [Hamas], a terrorist organization."  The State Department revoked her visa.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem explained:  [...]

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/03/14/homeland-security-arrests-another-anti-israel-columbia-university-protester-n2653839

[TBoneTX 46,715]

Money talks, or the threat of losing it does.  Regardless, how many people were sanctioned in total?  What was the breakdown of sanction type?  How many were expelled out of that total?  And what's the point of "temporarily suspending" someone's degree?  For how long, and for how many people?  The university needs to come clean.

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Columbia Finally Announces Disciplinary Action Against Pro-Hamas Agitators

 

Columbia University and its sister school of Barnard College have been in the news quite a bit lately.  The Trump administration is looking to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born pro-Hamas agitator, who was involved in various activities at Columbia and Barnard.  Khalil led encampments at Columbia and participated in takeovers at Barnard, with his involvement at the latter school coming after he had already graduated.  The Trump administration also announced last Friday that they were canceling $400 million in grants for Columbia.  Now, the university is announcing some pretty strong disciplinarian actions against the agitators.

A campus wide alert was sent out on Thursday, according to ABC News, detailing how students could face suspensions, expulsions, and even revoked degrees:  [...]

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2025/03/13/columbia-finally-announces-disciplinary-action-n2653800

[TBoneTX 46,715]

This is eye-opening.  Comments?

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You Won't Believe Why Johns Hopkins is Cutting 2000 Employees

 

[...] What I couldn't have told you is that the cuts to USAID would be the reason they would choose to do so.  Who knew that hundreds of millions of tax dollars a year are poured into just one of an uncounted number of universities from what most people think of as our foreign aid budget?  [...]

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/03/14/finally-universities-are-cutting-staffs-bigly-due-to-federal-budget-cuts-n3800752

[Boiler 46,621]

Who would have guessed, the cure was taking the gravy pot away.

 

 

[TBoneTX 46,715]

Better late than never...

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Colleges Are in Trouble and Suddenly Realizing They Have Few Allies

 

Columbia University is just the start of a long-brewing backlash.  On Monday of this week the Trump administration's Department of Education put 60 schools on notice that they will lose federal funding if they don't do more to crack down on antisemitism on campus.  [...]

 

On Friday the DOE sent another letter to more than 50 schools warning them that discriminatory DEI programs would no longer be tolerated.  [...]

 

Colleges are clearly getting the message which is why many of them put hiring freezes in place this week, in anticipation of being short on cash very soon.  [...]

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/03/15/colleges-are-in-trouble-and-suddenly-realizing-they-have-few-allies-n3800818

[TBoneTX 46,715]

Matt Taibbi hits a home run.

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America's colleges are hoarding billions — and yet still cry poor as Trump targets federal funding

 

Twenty years ago, maybe even ten, I'd have found stories about the administration cutting grants to universities and detonating thousands of campus-related jobs horrifying.

But the education sob stories now flying off the presses have a gigantic lie of omission.

Take Johns Hopkins.  NBC News was one of many to highlight the "grave consequences" the new administration's policies have had on the famed institution, noting "the changes will also have an economic impact in Baltimore because the university is the largest private employer in Maryland."

NBC pointed out that "about half of Johns Hopkins' funding last year came from federal research dollars, according to a letter from Ron Daniels, the university's president."  It seemed odd that the "largest private employer in Maryland" is half-funded by the federal "research dollars," but I shrugged and went to the Johns Hopkins website to read the Daniels letter.  [...]

 

https://nypost.com/2025/03/19/opinion/americas-colleges-are-hoarding-billions-and-yet-still-cry-poor-as-trump-targets-federal-funding/