Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident, is facing deportation via a rarely used foreign policy law. He is a Palestinian student who has been organising along with fellow pro-Palestinian supporters. Mahmoud has US residency via a green card which are rarely revoked without a criminal conviction. Khalil has no such criminal conviction and is instead facing deportation regardless because the US government:
has reasonable ground to believe that your presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.
Convicted felon Donald Trump has promised that there will be “many more” arrests to come and said:
We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country – never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here.
The “terrorist sympathisers” Trump is referring to here appear to be students like Khalil who have organised and protested against Israeli genocide. It does appear that Trump is not, in fact, referring to American terrorist sympathisers who have facilitated and sanctioned the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
Disappearing dissenters like Mahmoud Khalil
One of Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers, Diala Shamas, succinctly summed up why Khalil is in prison:
Speaking out against what the Trump administration is doing does not give them the right to disappear our people … We need to fight as hard as we can for Mahmoud because of what this portends.
CLEAR – which stands for Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility – are also part of Khalil’s legal team. They explained that the provision mentioned above, about acting contrary to American interests as a reason for deportation, is being applied inaccurately:
That provision is not only rarely used, it is certainly not intended by Congress to be used to silence dissent.
Bill Hing, a professor of law at the University of San Francisco, appeared to express a similar sentiment:
The government has to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that his presence or activities in the US has potential serious adverse foreign policy consequences. The question is, how will they prove that? If he has done nothing more than decry the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, or accuse Israel of genocide, and demand ceasefire, is that adverse to US foreign policy? I don’t think so. I think that is protected free speech.
Just yesterday, 12 March, a judge extended the ban halting the deportation of Khalil. However, whether Khalil does end up being deported or not, the move from Trump’s administration is clearly about creating a culture of fear around dissent and support of Palestine. Khalil has only met with his lawyers for less than one hour over phone – and with the government monitoring the call.
Conditional citizenship
Mahmoud Khalil’s imprisonment and impending deportation is yet another cruel reminder that citizenship is always conditional for people of colour. Based on conventions of Western law, it shouldn’t be possible to deport a permanent citizen of a nation. It certainly shouldn’t be possible to deport a permanent citizen because they dissented against their government’s foreign policy. However, this is something which is a reality for Black, Brown, and Muslim people living across the West. We never fully belong, and all it takes is for a fascist leader to exert the pressure required to expel dissenters.
Trump, however, has not reckoned with the mobilisation behind Mahmoud Khalil. Those who are more able to dissent without being targeted for their identity have thrown their support behind Mahmoud. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) have taken over the Trump Tower, as BreakThrough News reported:
BREAKING: Jewish Voice for Peace is leading a sit-in in the lobby of Trump tower to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil. pic.twitter.com/8ZgZkeZdIp
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 13, 2025
Protesters can be heard chanting “We want justice, you say how. Bring Mahmoud home now!” and “Fight Nazis, not students!”
JVP encouraged others to come and support them, tweeting:
Hundreds of U.S. Jews and friends are taking over the Trump Tower to say: Come for one, face us all.
They continued:
Mahmoud’s abduction by ICE marks a new, severe escalation in the Trump administration’s attack on the movement for Palestinian freedom in the US, which has aimed its first crackdown at universities where students have organized.
As many Jewish allies have made clear throughout Israel’s genocide, Jewish safety is not contingent on harm to Palestinians:
But Mahmoud’s kidnapping has nothing to do with Jewish safety. The Trump administration thinks it can crush dissent and strip away constitutional rights. We know this playbook. We refuse to allow our neighbors to be abducted in our name.
They then shared more footage of their takeover with some poignant words:
As Jews, we are taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal. We will not stand by as this fascist regime attempts to criminalize Palestinians and all those calling for an end to the Israeli government’s US-funded genocide of the Palestinian people. And we will never… pic.twitter.com/t2Ql8qRBgw
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) March 13, 2025
JVP’s actions are exactly what is needed – a demand for Mahmoud Khalil to be released, and a reminder that we will not stand by as the US government attempts to disappear a Palestinian for dissenting to their genocide. Trump’s fascism will not go unanswered.
Featured image via screengrab
