… has reportedly been arrested by ICE, who are presumably invoking the Patriot Act as grounds for his arrest.
He’s of Palestinian origin, a grad student at Columbia University and a Green Card holder, married to an 8-months pregnant US citizen. He’s also one of the most prominent, vocal and disruptive anti-Israel protesters and he led many of the university campus protests that dominated much of the news headlines last year.
It seems, per orders from the White House, there are now moves to revoke his Green Card, and deport him.
Not sure what the legalities actually are with regard to revoking someone’s Green Card status, but I’m generally torn about how I view this case.
Free speech is one thing, but free speech isn’t (and shouldn’t be) absolute, imo. I do get why the Right’s attitude might be ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!’. And a lot of what he was spouting didn’t impress me much, tbh. But I still can’t help feeling a bit sorry for the guy, and I’m wondering whether 47’s orders to deport him is the start of a very slippery slope.
Will the new normal be that folks can suddenly be ‘disappeared’ for participating in public protests?
Looks like I may have seen an answer to my question.
Not that I believe everything I see on social media, but it seems Marco Rubio has stepped up to confirm that Green Card revocations are now on the table.
”We will be revoking the visas/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Looks like I may have seen an answer to my question.
Not that I believe everything I see on social media, but it seems Marco Rubio has stepped up to confirm that Green Card revocations are now on the table.
”We will be revoking the visas/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Well, okay then …
Without due process?
No problem with deporting terrorists etc but what if the authorities make a mistake or the evidence against an individual isn't credible when tested in a legal arena?
Looks like I may have seen an answer to my question.
Not that I believe everything I see on social media, but it seems Marco Rubio has stepped up to confirm that Green Card revocations are now on the table.
”We will be revoking the visas/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Well, okay then …
Without due process?
No problem with deporting terrorists etc but what if the authorities make a mistake or the evidence against an individual isn't credible when tested in a legal arena?
What if…? Given their chaotic incompetence, I’d say that’s pretty much guaranteed to happen across the board.
As for ‘due process’, again, given how they’re gradually trying to dismantle the judicial process to the point of irrelevance, due process will be viewed as a big fat ‘meh…’attitude.
Can I ask what you think of what seems to be happening in the Khalil case specifically? There’s no doubt he was a very proactive pro-Hamas agitator.
Looks like I may have seen an answer to my question.
Not that I believe everything I see on social media, but it seems Marco Rubio has stepped up to confirm that Green Card revocations are now on the table.
”We will be revoking the visas/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Well, okay then …
Without due process?
No problem with deporting terrorists etc but what if the authorities make a mistake or the evidence against an individual isn't credible when tested in a legal arena?
What if…? Given their chaotic incompetence, I’d say that’s pretty much guaranteed to happen across the board.
As for ‘due process’, again, given how they’re gradually trying to dismantle the judicial process to the point of irrelevance, due process will be viewed as a big fat ‘meh…’attitude.
Can I ask what you think of what seems to be happening in the Khalil case specifically? There’s no doubt he was a very proactive pro-Hamas agitator.
I don't know the details of the case well so can't really comment.
Hamas is obviously a proscribed terrorist organisation in the US so if you are promoting their aims or facilitating them in some way then an individual should be liable to deportation, if not arrest. The problem I think is sometimes Pro-Palestinian sentiment get conflated with being pro-Hamas, and young people in particular may not understand the implications of what they are saying or the trouble it could cause them.
I'm sure I said a lot of stupid things when I was younger and would hate to think that my future could have been taken away from me as a result.
I think he will be put before an immigration judge. Unfortunately, that might take some time. His American wife is 8 months pregnant and may have that child before his case is resolved..
It is a very slippery slope. Palestine is a legitimate country, but Hamas is terrorist organization per our government. Supporting terrorist organizations is technically a crime.
Supporting a radical Islamic terrorist organization, as a non citizen Arab, in NYC, is probably going to get you tossed under this administration..
Part of the blame for this should be placed on Columbia. They allowed these protests to get way out of hand and resulted in articulated threats to Jewish students.
It's reminiscent of the Black Lives marches. Those went way beyond free speech, yet the authorities were too afraid to stop activities that went beyond speech..
“ Part of the blame for this should be placed on Columbia. They allowed these protests to get way out of hand and resulted in articulated threats to Jewish students. “
Absolutely this And across other campuses, too. The tent encampments, and much of the protesting in general, was performative panto from uninformed attention-addicted clueless brats, imo.
Some of those female students wore their Palestinian keffiyehs and their hijabs (because, yanno - modesty!), while strutting around in skintight arse-enhancing jeans, inch-long lash extensions & killer acrylic fingernails. I wonder how far their ‘protests’ would get them in, say, the brutal female suppression Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
And now, under the trump regime, the protests against ‘Netanyahu’s genocide’ seem to have fizzled out. Go figure…
It always amazes me how these Middle Eastern types slag off the West yet can't get their arses over here quickly enough.
Slagging off a country isn't a crime though, not less one justifying deportation.
I wish there was some evidence showing him supporting Hamas. Maybe there is.
I'll be honest. I didn't watch news clips of these people protesting, making encampments and getting classes canceled because I can only handle this sort of stupidity in small doses.
While I support the right to be stupid, I'm not going to watch it..
Anyone fortunate enough to be given a Green Card (or the equivalent in any country) and the opportunity to settle and build a new life, shouldn't rock the boat to the extent that that privilege may be taken away.
If it is taken away, they only have themselves to blame.
Anyone fortunate enough to be given a Green Card (or the equivalent in any country) and the opportunity to settle and build a new life, shouldn't rock the boat to the extent that that privilege may be taken away.
If it is taken away, they only have themselves to blame.
Good riddance.
It is sorta like a probationary period at work. You aren't quite a full fledged employee and should behave well, until you are one..
This case is difficult because we don't really know what he did, except in general terms.
And while he has rights, he doesn't have the same rights as a citizen..
"Columbia University on Thursday said it had doled out a range of punishments to students who occupied a campus building last spring during pro-Palestinian protests."
It is sorta like a probationary period at work. You aren't quite a full fledged employee and should behave well, until you are one..
You don't even have to be on your best behaviour - just don't be on your worst behaviour. And it sounds like he might have been.
I'm also not familiar with the details, but in essence I agree with kicking him out if it is proven he has done enough to warrant that
Being given a Green Card shouldn't make you immune from any repercussions that arise from your own behaviour or actions.
Basically, if you have a visa, they can kick you out pretty easily. You don't need to break a law and no appearance before a judge is necessary..
A judge is required if you have a green card. Even then, you don't have to technically break the law but be deemed a threat to the foreign policy of the United States..
Anyone fortunate enough to be given a Green Card (or the equivalent in any country) and the opportunity to settle and build a new life, shouldn't rock the boat to the extent that that privilege may be taken away.
If it is taken away, they only have themselves to blame.
Good riddance.
Couldn’t agree more.
A week or two ago I came across a few videos of immigrants (illegal/legal unknown to me) complaining about their accommodation/food/financial aid and I had to check whether these vids were satire. You couldn’t make this shit up. One vid was NY (iirc) the other was London.
As a poster up thread mentioned “biting the hand that feeds you”.
Leqaa Korda was arrested by agents from Homeland Security Investigations for allegedly overstaying her expired visa -- which terminated on Jan. 26, 2022. She was also allegedly arrested in 2024 for her involvement in the protests, according to DHS.
Korda is a Palestinian from the West Bank, according to DHS.
The arrest comes nearly a week after plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who was also involved in the protests at Columbia University.
The agency said another student involved in the protests -- Ranjani Srinivasan, an urban planning student at Columbia and Indian citizen -- used the CBP Home app to self-deport.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. "When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self-deport."