The party of free speech for everyone has become the party of free speech by Executive Order.
Mahmoud Khalil is a household name at the moment. A recent graduate of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. A permanent resident of the United States. A green card holder. With an American citizen wife who is eight months pregnant.
Khalil was detained in NY Saturday by federal immigration agents. They came to his door, telling him his student visa was being revoked. When advised he was a green card holder, agents reportedly said that was being revoked too. He is being held in an immigration facility in Louisiana.
A federal judge in New York has ordered the government to keep Khalil in the United States and refrain from deportation until it can resolve the issues in front of it.
Khalil has not been charged with any crimes, the most frequent reason a green card is revoked. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security says his custody is a result of Trump’s executive orders that prohibit anti-Semitism. Khalil was involved in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia. It is not known if they plan to bring charges now.
However, in America, Executive orders do not alter constitutional rights.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Donald Trump posted on social media. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”
If there is evidence protestors have committed crimes, they can be charged and have their day in court.
If the Trump administration was actually concerned about anti-Semitism his white supremacist, pro-Nazi supporters, including the guy who threw a couple of Nazi salutes recently should meet a similar fate. This is transparently about using anti-Semitism to justify unconstitutional actions.
Once you accept the arrest of a person for no reason other than their speech, we are all in danger.
What’s next? Are you okay with this growing dictatorship? Are you okay with yet another version of ‘anti-American activity’ divisiveness being promoted by the White House? Will you stand by and watch or stand up for our First Amendment rights?
Or have you already given yours away?
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