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The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and legal permanent resident of the U.S. who has played a prominent role in the Gaza protests at Columbia University, has alarmed civil rights groups and reignited concerns about the federal government’s dismissal of due process under the guise of fighting terrorism.
In response, 14 House Democrats have publicly called for Khalil’s release, writing in a letter to the Trump administration that his detention is “absolutely unacceptable — and illegal.” The Senate Judiciary Democrats also wrote on X: “This should terrify everyone.”
Now would be a good time for Democrats as a whole to heed the pleas from their constituents to “do something.”
Now would be a good time for Democrats as a whole to heed the pleas from their constituents to “do something.”
A former graduate student at Columbia, Khalil was arrested Saturday by federal immigration officers at his university-owned apartment in New York City. The administration has not provided any allegations of criminality against Khalil; the Department of Homeland Security claimed he “led activities aligned to Hamas,” seemingly tying his arrest to his participation in the protests at Columbia.
His attorney, Amy Greer, has said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke his student visa but, after being told that he is a permanent U.S. resident, declared they were revoking his green card as well.
Khalil — whose wife is a U.S. citizen and eight months pregnant — has not been charged with any crimes or convicted of any terror-related activity. He has since been located in a notorious immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
On Monday, a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Khalil. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Trump administration has cited Khalil’s involvement in the Columbia protests last year and said his arrest was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.” Trump has warned that Khalil’s arrest is “the first arrest of many to come,” and he sweepingly referred to pro-Palestinian campus protests as “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
By seeking to expel a legal U.S. resident whose political expression he disagrees with, Trump is threatening the very foundation of American democracy — that should be more than enough reason for Democrats to kick their opposition into high gear.
The Democratic Party has long been plagued by accusations of fecklessness in the face of Trump’s brazen actions, and its leaders are particularly prone to contorting themselves in strained statements about pro-Palestinian protests. But the president is not invincible; many of his executive actions have stalled in the courts or been reversed after facing resistance.
Whether or not Democrats agree with Khalil’s views, his arrest is a flagrant affront to his right to free speech. It should be a no-brainer for Democrats to vigorously challenge this now before the administration becomes more emboldened to do the same to anyone else it sees as the opposition.