Arrest of Columbia anti-Israel activist ‘not about free speech,’ says Marco Rubio
Secretary of state says Mahmoud Khalil, a US permanent resident who distributed Hamas pamphlets on campus, is a ‘visitor’ to the US and has no ‘right’ to stay in the country
The arrest by American immigration authorities of a college anti-Israel activist does not contradict the US administration’s stance on defending free speech, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.
“This is not about free speech,” Rubio said when asked if the weekend arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia University in New York, clashed with US President Donald Trump’s championing of the right to express opinions in the United States and in Europe.
“This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with,” Rubio told reporters at Ireland’s Shannon Airport during a refueling stop after a trip to Saudi Arabia.
“No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a Green Card, by the way.”
Khalil, 29, who was a leader in the anti-Israel student movement at Columbia, was arrested by US immigration officials on Saturday.
On Monday, US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan temporarily blocked authorities from deporting Khalil and scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.
According to Khalil’s lawyers, Department of Homeland Security agents initially said his student visa had been revoked. When his wife told the officers that Khalil was a lawful permanent resident, the officials said his green card had been revoked as well, his lawyers said.
A green card permits a person to permanently reside in the United States and gives them the protections of the US Constitution, including the right to free speech under the First Amendment.
“When you come to the United States as a visitor, which is what a visa is, which is how this individual entered this country — on a visitor’s visa — you are here as a visitor,” Rubio said.
“We can deny you that if you tell us when you apply, ‘Hi, I’m trying to get into the United States on a student visa, I am a big supporter of Hamas,'” he added.
The US Department of Homeland Security has said Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas” and that the DHS action was taken “in coordination with the Department of State.”
Khalil attended a protest last week at Barnard College, a Columbia affiliate, during which activists handed out pamphlets from the “Hamas media office.”
Trump has said Khalil’s arrest is the first “of many to come,” accusing students across the country of being engaged in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity” that his administration “will not tolerate.”
The Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel — when thousands of terrorists invaded from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages — and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in the Strip sparked waves of protests across American colleges and universities, including tent encampments and building occupations.
The demonstrations, which frequently included open endorsements of violence and support for terror groups, resulted in waves of arrests as well as some suspensions and expulsions, which many pro-Palestinian groups have condemned as an attack on free speech.
