Controversy Erupts Over Detention and Potential Deportation of Columbia University Protest Organizer
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is facing criticism for his defense of the detention and potential deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a former protest organizer at Columbia University. Critics argue that such actions violate Khalil’s First Amendment rights, but Rubio insists the issue is not about free speech.
Rubio addressed the situation during a refueling stop at Shannon Airport in Ireland, while en route to a G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Canada. He had previously been in Saudi Arabia conducting negotiations related to the Ukraine war.
According to Rubio, the crux of the matter lies in Khalil’s alleged support for Hamas, a group Rubio described as "murderous" and "barbaric." He stated that if Khalil had expressed support for Hamas and intentions to engage in "anti-Jewish, antisemitic activities" when applying for his visa, it should have been denied.
"When you come to the United States as a visitor, which is what a visa is – which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor’s visa – as a visitor, we can deny you that visa," Rubio asserted. "If you tell us when you apply, ‘Hi, I’m trying to get into the United States on a student visa. I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages,’ if you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this and if you tell us when you apply for your visa, ‘and by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities,’ if you told us all these things when you applied for your visa, we would deny your visa. I’d hope we would."
Rubio further stated that if someone engages in such activities after entering the country on a visa or obtaining a green card, the government has the right to revoke their visa or green card and deport them. He emphasized that neither student visas nor green cards are rights, but rather privileges granted by the United States.
"If you actually end up doing that once you’re in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it, and if you end up having a green card, not citizenship, but a green card as a result of that visa while you’re here doing those activities, we’re going to kick you out. It’s as simple as that. This is not about free speech," Rubio declared. "This is about people who do not 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 greed card by the way."
Rubio also criticized Khalil’s alleged involvement in campus unrest, claiming that he and others were "complicit in what are clearly crimes, vandalization, complicit in shutting down institutions." He expressed concern for students who are "afraid to go to class because there are lunatics running around with covers on their faces screaming terrifying things."
Khalil was arrested at his university-owned apartment in New York and transported to a detention center in Louisiana. He entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and has since obtained a green card. He is also married to an American citizen who is reportedly pregnant.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation to allow the case to proceed. Khalil’s attorneys argue that his constitutional rights of free speech and due process have been violated. They have filed a motion challenging the validity of his detention and are seeking his return to New York. Trump administration lawyers intend to file a motion to dismiss or transfer the case out of the Southern District of New York, arguing that it is an improper venue.
Adding another layer to the situation, sources have told Fox News that Khalil is being investigated as a potential national security threat. State Department officials have stated that his activities in the U.S. could have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the Immigration and Nationality Act grants the government the right to revoke a green card or visa from an individual considered "adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America." She accused Khalil of "taking advantage" of his opportunity to study in the U.S. by "siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists, who have killed innocent men, women and children."
Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on the matter, reiterating his promise that Khalil’s detention would be the first of many related to antisemitic campus unrest. "I think we ought to get them all out of the country. They’re troublemakers. They’re agitators. They don’t love our country. We ought to get him the hell out," Trump said. He added, "Columbia used to be a good school. Now it’s been overrun because of bad leadership."
The situation remains fluid, with legal challenges ongoing and strong opinions being voiced on both sides of the issue. The case raises complex questions about free speech, immigration rights, and national security.
