David Litman
CAMERA, Mar. 19, 2025
“This was not mere protest activity, but involved some degree of criminality. The federal government is not prosecuting people for engaging in political speech. The federal government is addressing criminality, violation of school rules and violation of the terms of either green cards or student visas.”
The case of Mahmoud Khalil has been the talk of the nation’s media in recent days. Predictably, coverage has been short on context but long on editorializing platitudes. Outlets like NPR and CNN work to depict Khalil’s story as simply one of a “prominent” protester “against Israel’s war in Gaza” whose right to “free speech” is being attacked by the government.
But this narrative is only tenable when material information is left out of the story. As with any legal proceeding, there is some legal and factual ambiguity, but mainstream media outlets have omitted crucial context about both the law and the facts.
Some of that context is provided below, beginning with a broad overview of the relevant laws and ending with a detailing of some of the relevant facts.
U.S. Immigration Law
Immigration law provides reasons for which a green card holder may be deported (“removed”) from the country. (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)). Those relevant to the Khalil case include general security considerations, terrorist activities, and foreign policy considerations.
General security grounds for deportation include any green card holder who engages in “criminal activity which endangers public safety or national security” or “any activity a purpose of which is the opposition to, or the control or overthrow of, the Government of the United States by force, violence, or other unlawful means…” (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(A)). …SOURCE