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Why the Columbia Deportation Does Not Violate the First Amendment
A pro-Hamas demonstrator uses a megaphone at Columbia University, on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in New York City, US, Oct. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
Mahmoud Khalil was arrested this week, pending deportation from the United States. A US legal permanent resident (a “green card” holder), Khalil is a former student, and current activist, at Columbia University. Khalil’s supporters argue that he was engaging in his Constitutionally protected right to free speech. However, despite the noise, this question is actually not controversial: under US law, the terms of his visa, and a long history of Supreme Court cases, Khalil does not have the right to advocate on behalf of the Hamas terror organization on US soil.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained, “Khalil … was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities … and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists.” Khalil’s deportation has been temporarily blocked by a New York Federal court as his lawyers argue that he has been unfairly targeted for exercising his First Amendment rights to free speech.
Can legal aliens support terror organizations?
In a word, no.
Khalil is a senior activist in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (“CUAD”) organization, having acted as their lead negotiator with campus officials and having represented the group numerous times in media interviews, including on the Arab language Quds News Network.
Khalil’s organization describes Hamas and Hezbollah as fighting “heroically” against the IDF, and praised the October 7 massacre as “[Hamas leader Yahiyha] Sinwar’s crowning achievement,” adding that “Al-Aqsa Flood [the October 7 massacre] was the very essence of what it is to resist.” Numerous other examples can be found on CUAD’s Substack page.
Visas to the United States, including legal permanent residency (a “green card”) are governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act (the “INA”). Sections § 237(a)(4) (8), § 1227(a)(4)) and 1182(a)(3) set out the reasons why an alien may be deportable, including if he or she, “is a representative … of a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity” or “endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization.”
In this case, there is no question that the October 7 massacre constitutes “terror activity.” Though we have written this numerous times in the past, it bears repeating: October 7, 2023 saw the largest murder of Jews since the Holocaust as the Hamas terror organization, along with Palestinian civilians and UN staff, invaded Israel, killed over 1,200 and took 251 hostage, all while committing mass torture and mass rape.
It is undeniable from its public statements that the CUAD organization “endorses or espouses” the October 7 massacre as well as the US- designated Hamas terror organization. It is also clear that Khalil is “a representative” of CUAD, which violates the INA. Moreover, through his activist activities, Khalil “persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity” which is a further violation of the INA.
What about the First Amendment and free speech?
This is not a new question, in fact there is a long history of caselaw before the United States Supreme Court, on this very question. The Court has consistently supported the authority of the Executive Branch to revoke visas for violations of the INA, notwithstanding questions of free speech. The following are just two of many examples:
The case of Harisiades v. Shaughnessy (1952) involved the deportation of a legal permanent resident due to membership in the Communist Party. The United States Supreme Court ruled that power to deport aliens is inherent in every sovereign state, that aliens are equal to full US citizens in some, but not all, respects, and that in any case, the First Amendment does not protect calls for violence.
In Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (1999), members of the US designated terror organization “PFLP” (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) were arrested pending deportation. The defendants claimed that they were unfairly targeted for exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were not unfairly targeted, and that US Federal Courts do not have authority to overrule a White House decision in this matter.
Both statutory and case law are clear: the terms of a US visa do not allow an alien to support or endorse terrorism. Furthermore, a long history of US Supreme Court cases confirm that visa holders do not have a First Amendment right to violate the terms of their visa.
Khalil caused significant harm to Jewish students on Columbia’s campus, and to Americans in general, through his support for some of the most horrific terrorism of the modern age: all while he was a guest in the United States of America. A visa is a special permission to visit a country on certain very specific terms. Endorsing terrorism violates those terms, and nothing in American law, including the First Amendment, overrides this fundamental principle.
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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