Green-card holders rattled by Mahmoud Khalil case

The Trump administration’s efforts to deport Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil is triggering concern among green-card holders in the U.S., who are suddenly viewing their freedoms and immigration status with uncertainty. 

Khalil, who is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, has been targeted over his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests. He is a legal permanent U.S. resident on a green card and married to a U.S. citizen. 

His arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York City and subsequent transport to a facility in Louisiana have raised a flurry of questions over the rights of green-card holders, immigration attorneys told The Hill. 

“I have never received so many inquiries from people who you would usually think are safe," Samah Sisay, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a member of Khalil’s legal team, told reporters on Friday. 

“A lot of green card holders have concerns about leaving the United States and what will happen if they try to come back,” she said. 

The Trump administration has moved to revoke Khalil’s green card, claiming he has advocated for Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. A federal judge blocked efforts to deport Khalil, who has not been charged with a crime, amid the ongoing court deliberations. Khalil has denied advocating for Hamas. 

"A green-card holder doesn't have an indefinite right to be in the United States," Vice President Vance said in a recent interview with Fox News last week. "This is not about 'free speech.' Yes, it's about national security — but more importantly, it's about who we, as American citizens, decide gets to join our national community."

Aleksandar Cuic, an immigration attorney, told The Hill he has had to rethink his guidance to clients in light of Khalil’s case. 

“People that have green cards and have been placed in deportation proceedings, there is usually a mechanism though that kind of leads to that, whereas Mr. Khalil’s situation seems a little different,” he said.

“I think we've always told people if you’re not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about. I don't know if that's really necessarily the case anymore.” Cuic added.  

On Saturday, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Cornell University students, challenging the administration’s “unconstitutional” actions to seek to detain and deport international students who express pro-Palestinian views and participate in demonstrations. According to Reuters, one of the students is a British-Gambian national in the country on a student visa. 

“The Trump administration wants to create a show-me your-papers nation where we all have to be looking over our shoulder and questioning whether we belong here,” Naureen Shah, director of government affairs, equality division for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told The Hill. 

“It’s not going to be just Columbia University, it’s potentially dozens of universities across the country,” she continued. 

At least one other student who is a green-card holder and was involved in the protests has been arrested by immigration officials. Leqaa Korda, a Palestinian green-card holder from the West Bank, was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations last week for allegedly overstaying her expired visa. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said another Columbia University student, from India and who was involved in the protests, used the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home app to self-deport. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video on social platform X of the student, Ranjani Srinivasan, walking with a suitcase through an airport, referring to Srinivasan in the post as a “terrorist sympathizer.” 

Srinivasan’s attorney Nathan Yaffe pushed back against Noem’s comment in a statement to CNN, saying DHS “falsely” claimed she self-deported. 

Earlier this month, the ACLU, which is a part of Khalil’s legal team, sent a letter calling on U.S. college and university leaders to protect free speech in the face of immigration-related threats from the executive branch. 

In the letter, the ACLU argues higher education institutions should “encourage robust discussion and exploration of ideas by students, faculty, and staff, regardless of their nationality or immigration status,” as well as to “protect the privacy of all students, including immigrant and international students.” 

The letter also notes that “nothing obligates universities to act as deputies in immigration law enforcement,” rather universities “should not veer from their core mission.” 

In Khalil’s case, the Trump administration is citing a rarely used provision under Section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act that says a person can be removed from the country if the secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe that the person “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” to the country. 

“I've never seen this used before now, and I’ve been practicing for 18 years,” Cuic said.

He added that Khalil’s arrest renewed questions about whether First Amendment free speech protections apply to green-card holders and is forcing some to think about becoming a citizen, Cuic said. 

“U.S. citizenship and naturalization is also not foolproof and can be taken away, but this is also creating generalized fear and anxiety, where people who are staying out of trouble are wondering if they can talk freely, but it might be used against them, or if they want to protest but they can't because once again it might be used against them,” he told The Hill. 

While Khalil’s defenders argue he is being punished for free speech, conservatives claim his role in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza tie him to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and make him a national security threat. 

“The key issue isn’t whether Mahmoud Khalil had free speech rights — he does. It’s whether his support for Students for Justice in Palestine or any other affiliated entity placed him within the broader, coordinated movement for terrorism and genocide,” said Seth Oranburg, a professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law. 

“If the government has credible evidence of coordination, then deportation isn’t a free speech issue — it’s a national security necessity,” he added. 

Conservatives further argue that it is well within the administration’s right to revoke someone’s green card. 

“There are presidential and secretary of State and secretary of Homeland Security findings in law, which are discretionary, that can render an alien inadmissible,” said Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow in border security and immigration at the Heritage Foundation.  

“In certain circumstances, such as where they committed fraud to become a citizen, a naturalized alien can even be denaturalized by legal process,” he added. 

“There is a point at which a person who is not an American citizen crosses a line and that wouldn’t be merely going to a protest about apartheid or some political issue. But once you start talking about supporting a terrorist group and violent action or destroying the very fabric of the United States, then I would argue that you have crossed that line,” he added. 

However, the American Immigration Lawyers Association said in a statement that lawful permanent residents have the right to free speech and other constitutional protections.

“Nearly a week after Khalil was arrested and the issuance of the NTA, he has not been charged with any crime or with aiding a foreign-terrorist organization. As a lawful permanent resident, he is protected under the First Amendment, and his speech and protest activities are shielded from government infringement,” the association said in the statement.