We have become careless in making sure that the government follows our immigration laws, particularly student visas and permanent residency. That lack of oversight could become a danger to our country, as we watch dissension and violence flowing from protests that are pro-Hamas demonstrations and antisemitic—and that seem to feature prominently among their ranks people who are guests in the country, whether as students on visas or as green card holders.
The most recent high-profile case is that of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia graduate student and current green card holder, who only recently completed his studies. So, what do we know about Mahmoud Khalil? Well, quite a lot. Per CNN, he’s just a nice guy who supports the Palestinian people:
He acknowledges that he is a Palestinian activist, but he claims to disavow anti-Semitism:
‘As a Palestinian student, I believe that the liberation of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people are intertwined and go hand-by-hand and you cannot achieve one without the other,’ he told CNN last spring when he was one of the negotiators representing student demonstrators during talks with Columbia University’s administration.
What does his statement even mean? In what way are the Jewish people able to liberate the Palestinians? Liberate them from what?
This is the kind of rhetoric that comes out of the narrative regarding the Palestinian population that is labelled “occupied,” which it is not, and from the other rhetoric that discusses genocide by the Israelis and supposed apartheid they are committing.
When challenged in the same interview about the antisemitic nature of the protests, Khalil once again made an incomprehensible statement:
‘There is, of course, no place for antisemitism,’ he told CNN in April. ‘What we are witnessing is anti-Palestinian sentiment that’s taking different forms and antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism (are) some of these forms.’
In what way does anti-Palestinian sentiment show up as antisemitism? Again, what does his statement mean?
What’s more significant factually is that it appears that Khalil does not distinguish between the Palestinian people and Hamas. To the extent that he sees support for one as support for another, one could argue that his behavior falls under 18 U.S. Code 2339B (Providing Material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations):
Whoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life. To violate this paragraph, a person must have knowledge that the organization is a designated (as defined in subsection (g)(6)), that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorist activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), or that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorism (as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988-1989).
By the way, “material support or resources” can apply to training, and expert advice or assistance, which I believe define his actions during the protests at Columbia.
Once away from the media’s gauzy rhetoric, it’s apparent that Khalil is not entitled to permanent residency (green card) or a student visa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the issue concisely:
‘This is not about free speech. This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, by the way,’ Rubio said Wednesday in his first public comments to the press on the matter.
In another interview, Rubio explained the high cost of having foreign activists on America campuses:
‘So when you apply for a student visa or any visa to enter the United States, we have a right to deny you for virtually any reason, but I think being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down, being complicit in what are clearly crimes, vandalization, complicit in shutting down institutions,’ Rubio added. ‘There are kids at these schools that can’t go to class. You pay all this money to these high-priced schools that are supposed to be of great esteem, and you can’t even go to class. You’re afraid to go to class because there are lunatics running around with covers on their faces screaming terrifying things. If you told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out.’
The law regarding Khalil’s situation is not complicated. His leadership in an organization that is dedicated to America’s violent overthrow places him squarely within the laws requiring an alien, even if he is here legally, to be deported.
Moreover, if investigation reveals that Khalil was already engaging in pro-Hamas activities before entering the U.S., and that he failed to inform immigration authorities about those activities, that also justifies deporting him:
A Green Card provides its holder with both benefits and limitations. Failure to follow the rules set by the government for Green Card holders can lead to loss of https://www.usimmigration.org/glossary/permanent-resident. [sic] This usually happens due to:
- Immigration fraud – Marriage to a U.S. citizen only to obtain a Green Card.
- Committing a crime – If a Green Card holder commits a serious enough crime, it is grounds for deportation.
- Committing Fraud – If the permanent resident lied, omitted relevant information on their application, or committed any fraud to get a U.S. green card and this is discovered after the Green Card is issued.
Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, a law professor at Cornell Law School, explains that a conviction is not a prerequisite for a green card holder to be deported:
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders do not need to be convicted of something to be ‘removable,’ Kelley-Widmer said. They could be deported if the secretary of homeland security or the attorney general have reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in, or are likely to engage in, terrorist activities, she said.
The currently available facts create a narrative strongly arguing for Khalil’s immediate deportation: He seemingly doesn’t distinguish between the Palestinians and Hamas; he may have entered this country under false pretenses; he tries to appear to distance himself from antisemitism but his anti-Israel rhetoric crosses the line; his actions contribute to the fear, violence and threats that have been committed against Jewish students at Columbia University; and he has, through word and deed, provided material support for Hamas and for an organization that advocates for America’s violent overthrow.
It’s time for a thorough review and clarification of the permanent resident and student visa requirements.
It’s time for Mahmoud Khalil to go home.
X screen grab.
Jesus Christ is King
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