I Don't Have Much Sympathy for Mahmoud Khalil, But His Attempted Deportation is Wrong

(Seth Harrison/USA Today Network/Imagn Images)

What am I to make of the Trump Administration's decision to have ICE detain and revoke the green card of Mahmoud Khalil in an attempt to deport him?

He had been the spokesman for Columbia United Apartheid Divest (CUAD) - an organization which has made life a living hell for Jewish students at Columbia University.

Here is President Trump's explanation on Truth Social:

I suspect that Trump is right to characterize Khalil "as a radical foreign Pro-Hamas Student." After all, CUAD supports "armed resistance". Armed resistance means kidnapping people from kibbutzim and music festival before proceeding to rape and murder. 

So, frankly, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for Mahmoud Khalil. Nor do I believe his condemnation of anti-Semitism. In April 2024, Khalil stated, “There is, of course, no place for antisemitism. What we are witnessing is anti-Palestinian sentiment that’s taking different forms and antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism (are) some of these forms.”

Simply put, from where Khalil stands, anti-Semitism is merely a form of anti-Palestinian sentiment.  Somehow, I doubt he meant to say that Hamas is anti-Palestinian. 

Yet I also think President Trump's decrial of anti-Semitism is equally insincere. Trump claims, "We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it."

Balderdash. President Trump tolerates anti-Semitism within his own administration.

Last I checked, Kingsley Wilson is a spokesperson for the Department of Defense despite her anti-Semitic rhetoric. Frankly, I would not be surprised if Wilson's views of Israel aligned with those of Khalil. In which case, being pro-Hamas is OK so long as you are born in the United States.

And this would appear be the crux of the matter.

While I have no doubt that Mahmoud Khalil is a pro-Hamas, anti-Semite, he has not been charged with a crime as of this writing. Khalil has not been accused of engaging in assault and inciting others to do so much less providing material support to Hamas. Barring further information, it would appear the only "crime" Khalil committed was being foreign-born. Indeed, Trump specifically describes Khalil as "a Radical Foreign Hamas Student". Trump also uses some uncharacteristic, unTrumpian language in his post:

If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here.

When Trump invokes the phrase "your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests", he is referring to a provision under the Immigration and Naturalization Act which allows for the Secretary of State to revoke a green card on the grounds their presence "would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."

Again, I find Khalil contemptible and odious and would not miss him for a second were he to be deported back to Syria. Nevertheless, the notion that his mere presence "would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States" is a stretch.

I cannot emphasize this enough. Show me evidence that Khalil assaulted someone, commanded someone to do so or provided material support to Hamas. But they can't produce such evidence because they don't have it. Simply put, the Trump Administration is convicting Khalil on the wrong evidence.

For his part, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear the Trump Administration "will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." This is about deportation, not anti-Semitism.

Let me put it this way. If the Trump Administration is prepared to deport people with green cards who support Hamas today en masse, then what is there to prevent the Trump Administration from stripping dual Canadian-U.S. citizens of their American citizenship and deporting such persons (like yours truly) en masse back to Canada?

In other words, notwithstanding the fact that Mahmoud Khalil is a pro-Hamas anti-Semite, barring any evidence of a crime, the attempt by the Trump Administration to deport him is arbitrary, capricious and wrong.