John, 

On March 8th, plainclothes federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student, Palestinian activist, and permanent legal resident of the United States. His only “offense” is that he exercised the First Amendment rights afforded to him by the U.S. Constitution to peacefully protest Israel’s war in Gaza.

The detention of Mahmoud Khalil is dangerous and illegal. It is an assault on Mr. Khalil as a person and lawful resident of this country, and it is an assault on our Constitution. The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy, as is the right to peaceful assembly and protest. It does not matter whether the government agrees with the protest; in fact, the government often does not agree. But that is precisely why the Trump administration is targeting Mr. Khalil.

Mr. Khalil is a U.S. green card holder who has been detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in his home in New York City, denied access to his attorneys, and moved to a detention center in Louisiana, hundreds of miles from his home and his family. And despite being a lawful permanent resident of this country — with full First and Fifth Amendment rights – President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are demanding that Mr. Khalil be deported. Mr. Khalil is not accused of any crime. But he faces deportation anyway—and the Trump administration has made it clear that more unlawful detentions and deportations of peaceful protesters will follow. Mr. Khalil affirmed this in an open letter published by In These Times, stating, “The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa-holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs.”

The Trump administration is claiming that it has the power to eject Mr. Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act. But that power is limited and allows for the deportation of lawfully present individuals only where the Secretary of State “has reasonable ground to believe” that the individual’s presence or activities…would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

No such reasonable grounds exist here. To argue that a peaceful protest has “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” is a dangerous absurdity that tramples on our democracy and our democratic values as a country. It is Mr. Khalil’s unconstitutional detention that poses a serious threat to our country, not the peaceful protest that led to his detention. As Mr. Khalil writes, “At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.”

In solidarity,
Free Speech For People