On April 11, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority to deport a Syrian man at the center of pro-Palestinian and anti-Jewish demonstrations and mayhem at New York’s Columbia University.
Judge Jamee Comans said Mahmoud Khalil, 30, can be deported and that the State Department has the legal authority to expel green card holders (non-citizens) deemed to be agitating against U.S. foreign policy interests. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Khalil never mentioned to the U.S. that he worked in the office of the British embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, that dealt with Syrian issues. DHS said this made Khalil “inadmissible at the time of his adjustment” because he misrepresented himself and his past.
What riled the U.S. government was Khalil’s involvement with “student” protests against Israel at Columbia University. During these demonstrations, some students and activists denied Jewish students the right to freely move about the campus, threatened them, and took over university buildings by force.
Judge Comans ruled that Khalil was “deportable” under a law cited by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that allows expulsion of guests in the U.S. who take actions deemed to be antithetical to U.S. foreign policy.
Advocates for Khalil and pro-Palestinian demonstrators say this is a violation of “free speech,” and that Khalil is being politically persecuted. His lawyer Sabrina Mohamah told media that the decision was “unjust and alarming,” and “a blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
Department of Homeland Security director Kristi Noem countered this view, stating that it was a “privilege” to be given a visa to study in the U.S. and that the country does not have to host guest who support terrorist organizations. “Good riddance,” she said in reaction to the ruling.
Khalil has been held in custody in a Lousiana prison since March 8 when he was arrested. The court ruling gives him until April 23 to file for relief in the courts, so he’ll be cooling his heels in the U.S. for a bit longer.
The protests against Israel kicked off at Columbia and other universities after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists. The militants breached the Israeli border and slaughtered thousands of young people attending an outdoor music festival, raping women and abducting hundreds. Leftist “pro-Palestinian” demonstrators in the U.S. accused Israel of waging “genocide” against Palestinians through its aggressive military response.
The White House announced the court decision on X/Twitter, using an image of Donald Trump from the day he visited a McDonald’s. The image shows the president waving “goodbye” from a drive through window.
Predictably, the social media thread drew widely divergent responses. Some users expressed anger at the Trump administration, but most were supportive:
Others were quite happy to see the U.S. get tough:
