Amid widespread outrage over the arrest of pro-Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil who risks being deported by the Donald Trump administration, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, reserves every right to revoke the visa or green card of any individual adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of America.
Asserting the zero-tolerance policy of the administration towards terrorism, Leavitt said, “Mahmoud Khalil is an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country, to study at one of our nation’s one of the finest universities. And he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege by siding with Hamas terrorists,” Leavitt said.
“Hamas terrorists have killed innocent men, women and children. This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish-American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, flyers with the logo of Hamas. That is what behavior and activity this individual engaged in,” Karoline said adding that she has the flyers with her but she did not bring those to the White House briefing room as that would have lowered the dignity of the room.
ICE arrests Mahmoud Khalil; Marco Rubio, Donald Trump weigh in
30-year-old Mahmoud Khalil became a known face last year as he became the ring leader of the pro-Palestine protests in university campuses. Columbia University suspended him because of his activism and then was reinstated and he completed his master’s from the university in December. At the weekend, he was arrested from the university-provided accommodation and ICE agents told him that his visa was revoked and he would be deported. His lawyer Amy Greer informed the administration that Khalil is not in the US on student visa, but he holds a green card.
A New York federal court Monday held Khalil’s deportation until the next hearing Wednesday but the administration is making an exemplary case out of Khalil as President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan spoke on the issue — emphasizing that Khalil is the first of many cases of pro-Hamas students whom the administration would deport.
Khalil married his wife, who is an American on November 16, 2023 and became a lawful permanent resident in 2024. The identity of Khalil’s wife has not been revealed but Amy Greer said Khalil’s wife was also threatened by the ICE agents.
