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What the Media Isn’t Telling You About Mahmoud Khalil and His Possible Deportation

A pro-Palestine protester holds a sign that reads: “Faculty for justice in Palestine” during a protest urging Columbia University to cut ties with Israel. November 15, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The case of Mahmoud Khalil has been the talk of the nation’s media in recent days.

Predictably, coverage has been short on context, but long on editorializing platitudes. Outlets like NPR and CNN have worked to depict Khalil’s story as simply one of a “prominent” protester “against Israel’s war in Gaza,” whose right to “free speech” is being attacked by the Trump administration.

But this narrative is only tenable when material information is left out of the story.

As with any legal proceeding, there is some legal and factual ambiguity, but mainstream media outlets have omitted crucial context about both the law and the facts.

Some of that context is provided below, beginning with a broad overview of the relevant laws and ending with a list of some of the relevant facts.

US Immigration Law

US immigration law provides reasons for which a green card holder may be deported (“removed”) from the country. (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)). Those relevant to the Khalil case include general security considerations, terrorist activities, and foreign policy considerations.

General security grounds for deportation include any green card holder who engages in “criminal activity which endangers public safety or national security” or “any activity a purpose of which is the opposition to, or the control or overthrow of, the Government of the United States by force, violence, or other unlawful means…” (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(A)).

Another grounds for deportation is if a green card holder engages in “terrorist activity,” which includes anyone who “endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization…” (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(B) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)).

The third grounds provides that any green card holder “whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.” (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(C)).

First Amendment Protections

Green card holders do have some rights, including under the First Amendment. However, those rights may be restricted where there is a “legitimate governmental interest.”

For example, Mark Goldfeder, a former law professor and CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, has pointed to Citizens United v. FEC, in which the Supreme Court specifically mentioned “foreigners” as a category of individuals whose speech rights may be restricted and which “are not automatically coextensive with the rights” of “members of our society.”

In another Supreme Court case referenced by legal expert Erielle Azerrad at City Journal, our Nation’s highest court held that foreigners may be deported on the basis of their destructive or “dangerous” advocacy (Turner v. Williams).

Recognizing the importance of the freedom of expression, the Court still acknowledged that governments “cannot be denied the power of self-preservation.” Azerrad also pointed out two recent cases in which appeals courts upheld deportations on grounds that the deportees had distributed flyers on behalf of terrorist organizations (see Hosseini v. Nielsen and Bojnoordi v. Holder).

Other commentators have pointed to even more cases, such as Harisiades v. Shaughnessyand Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Even if these precedents did not exist, the First Amendment is not an automatic bar or absolute right. As explained by Goldfeder, Supreme Court precedent provides that even the right to free expression may be restricted if the law is “narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest” which, in this case, would be national security.

A related legal issue typically omitted by media commentators is the prohibition against providing material support for a terrorist organization (18 U.S.C. § 2339B). While this law does not prohibit an individual advocating for a terrorist organization on his own accord, it can and does prohibit “advocacy performed in coordination with, or at the direction of, a foreign terrorist organization” (Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project).

The Facts

So which facts fit the law in the Khalil case? Consider just a sampling of the evidence.

Khalil is a leader in the organization Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), an organization whose most prominent coalition member is Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Immediately after Hamas’ October 7 massacre, National SJP aligned itself with Hamas, declaring it was “part of” the “movement” operating “under unified command” which had just waged “a large scale battle … within ’48 Palestine” (referring to southern Israel).

Since then, CUAD has been directly involved in numerous illegal and violent actions, including the illegal encampment and the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall at Columbia. During the latter, university staff were violently assaulted and kidnapped.

Importantly, Khalil is not in trouble merely for his and his organization’s horrendous views.

As explained by Ken Marcus, founder of the Brandeis Center: “This was not mere protest activity, but involved some degree of criminality. The federal government is not prosecuting people for engaging in political speech. The federal government is addressing criminality, violation of school rules and violation of the terms of either green cards or student visas.”

At the encampment and other CUAD-sponsored events, Hamas propaganda was distributed, including personally by Khalil himself. This included a document titled “Our Narrative … Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” with the “Hamas Media Office” marking on it.

Footage has emerged from earlier this month showing Khalil at one such event where the propaganda booklet was being distributed.

Literature distributed by CUAD contained language such as: “This booklet is part of a coordinated and intentional effort to uphold the principles of the thawabit and the Palestinian resistance movement overall by transmitting the words of the resistance directly.”

The organization has also hosted events featuring the designated terrorist organization Samidoun and a senior terrorist leader. Events and publications have regularly glorified terrorists, and participants have even encouraged Hamas attacks against peaceful Jewish counter-protesters.

Khalil’s organization also harbors deeply anti-American motives. In August 2024, for example, CUAD posted that it is “fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization” and aligning itself with “militants … who have been on the frontline in the fight against tyranny and domination which undergird the imperialist world order.” CUAD then declared that its members “must be prepared to make … sacrifices” in order “to achieve liberation in America.”

There is also evidence that has not been made public. According to The New York Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was “presented with intelligence” regarding Khalil being a threat to national security. Classified intelligence may be used in deportation hearings that does not need to be disclosed either to the defendant or to the public, if the judge determines that disclosure could harm national security. (8 U.S.C. § 1534(e)(3))

Khalil will have his day in immigration court to make his legal case. But it is incumbent on the media to ensure that the law and the facts have their day in the court of public opinion.

David M. Litman is a Research Analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA).

The post What the Media Isn’t Telling You About Mahmoud Khalil and His Possible Deportation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Body of Mohammed Sinwar Recovered from Gaza, Taken to Israel

A screengrab shows according to the Israeli Army, Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, taken from a handout video, released Dec/ 17, 2023. Photo: Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS

i24 NewsDuring excavations carried out recently in the area of ​​the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, several bodies were found – i24NEWS learned on Sunday that one belonged to late Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, which is now being held in Israel.

On Saturday night, the Israel Defense Forces published documentation from the underground space located under the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. The tunnels include a command and control complex from which the fighting was conducted by senior Hamas commanders. During the scans, several additional bodies of terrorists were found.

About three weeks ago, Israel heavily shelled the hospital area, targeting the underground space below it, where the terrorist organization’s headquarters was located. In recent days, Israeli forces have been operating in the area, with an emphasis on underground tunnels, and have located the body. The IDF’s recovery of Sinwar’s body contradicts a previous report, according to which Hamas recovered his body from the tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, and buried it in a tunnel in the Deir al-Balah area.

Sinwar was one of the senior and veteran figures in Hamas’ military wing, and took a significant part in the planning and execution of the murderous massacre on October 7, 2023, in which he served as head of the operations headquarters. After the assassination of military commander Mohammed Deif, Sinwar was appointed by his brother, late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, to the position. He was an influential and central factor in the organization’s decision-making, promoting Hamas’s effort to rehabilitate after IDF operations.

Now, Israel possesses the bodies of both Sinwar brothers, with much of the Hamas leadership eliminated in the more than 600 days since the war began.

The post Body of Mohammed Sinwar Recovered from Gaza, Taken to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Militants Kill Gaza Civilians, Publicly Asserting Brutal Control

A drone view shows buildings lying in ruins, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Jan. 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Al-Basos

i24 NewsThe Israeli army released footage from the Gaza Strip on Sunday showing a Palestinian brutally shot dead in public by what the military claims is a Hamas militant.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, General Ghassan Alian, released the footage via military channels. According to the official statement, the brutal execution took place last weekend in a Gaza City square, in front of witnesses. Israeli military authorities described the footage as “exceptional documentation” illustrating the Islamist movement’s methods against its own population.

General Alian addressed the residents of Gaza directly in a statement – “Hamas, terrorists, and criminals are killing you and do not care about your lives,” he said. “There is no difference between a dictator who kills in silence and a terrorist who massacres openly. Both are your enemies and the enemies of life.”

Alian described the act as “a desperate, further, and failed attempt to sow public fear in order to preserve Hamas’s rule, power, and governance, while cynically trampling on and exploiting the residents of Gaza for the survival of the Hamas terrorist regime and the preservation of its rule.”

Meanwhile, the IDF is intensifying its operations in key flashpoints in Gaza, particularly in Jabalia and Khan Yunis. Military forces continue to reach areas where they were not previously present.

The post Hamas Militants Kill Gaza Civilians, Publicly Asserting Brutal Control first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Two of Four Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza Building Collapse Identified

Tom Rothstein and the late Uri Jonathan Cohen / Photo: Israeli army spokesman

i24 NewsFour Israeli soldiers were killed on Friday in the collapse of a building in Khan Younis during a military operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The incident occurred during an offensive by the 98th Division targeting Hamas infrastructure in northern Khan Younis, near Bani Suheila.

The fallen soldiers were identified as Staff Sergeant Tom Rotstein, 23, from Ramat Gan; Staff Sergeant Uri Yehonatan Cohen, 20, from Neve Yarok; Reserve Staff Sergeant Chen Gross, 33; and Staff Sergeant Yoav Rovor, 19. All served in the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

According to IDF sources, the soldiers were part of a mission to secure a Hamas compound believed to contain underground tunnels. A powerful explosive device detonated during the operation, causing the structure to partially collapse and trap the soldiers inside.

Five additional soldiers were wounded—one seriously and four moderately. They were airlifted to hospitals, while search and recovery teams from the Home Front Command worked for hours to extract the bodies from the rubble.

This latest incident brings the total number of Israeli military fatalities to eight this week alone, raising the overall death toll to 424 since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza.

Earlier this week, three soldiers from the Rotem Battalion of the Givati Brigade were killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Gaza Strip. Reserve Staff Sergeant Alon Perkas, 27, also died during separate combat in the Shejaiya neighborhood.

The IDF continues its operations in Gaza as military and political leaders navigate the high costs of an enduring conflict with Hamas.

The post Two of Four Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza Building Collapse Identified first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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