Graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 8 after leading pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University. Despite being a legal permanent U.S. resident on a green card and not being charged with a crime, Khalil was taken to a detention center in Louisiana and faces the possibility of deportation.
When asked why Khalil would be deported, a Department of Homeland security agent claimed Khalil’s involvement in the protests was enough to warrant a review and revoke his visa. Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, denied an allegation that Khalil supports Hamas.
The United States has long been singular, at least nominally, in its liberal, far-stretching understanding of free speech. Interpretation and implementation of the First Amendment has been a fundamental tenet to the nation’s understanding of itself. Radical, outlawed revolutionary speech was once what spurred our nation’s liberation from colonial oppression.
The First Amendment is critical in education as well as media, as it protects the rights of students, teachers and administrators from having differing opinions and encourages academic freedom. The $400 million that the Trump administration revoked due to stated antisemitic harassment could be reinstated if Columbia follows a list of demands, one of which includes instituting a senior advisor from the administration to oversee the Middle Eastern studies department; an educational quid pro quo that is morally unsound. Leveraging federal funding as a method of compliance is censorship, especially when it comes to academic content.
This sets a chilling effect for the 140 other academic institutions who had protests regarding the war last spring. Altering how information is presented threatens the integrity of a well-rounded learning environment.
This is not an isolated event unique to Columbia’s campus, but part of a broader trend of federal attacks on college students who do not align with President Donald Trump’s platform or conservatism as a whole. Chancellor Lee Roberts has announced that UNC will comply with ICE officials, showing our own administration’s reluctance to protect its students against a hostile federal administration.
The institutionally endorsed acts of violence against Khalil reveal a very real threat to the safety of students at UNC. Over 2,600 international students attend Carolina from more than 110 countries. UNC claims to strive to be a bastion of learning for global scholars, yet it’s clear that the free speech of its international and immigrant students is not protected from the whims of the Trump administration.
Watching Khalil face deportation, despite his permanent resident status and the ambiguity of his allegations, highlights the vulnerability of international students and the increasing need for their administrations to defend them. This case also shows the fluctuating boundaries of who is and is not protected in America and forces us to wonder who is next.
If it is members of the Carolina community who may be subject to such injustice next, do we trust our institutions to advocate for us?
