Deport Mahmoud Khalil

Consider this hypothetical scenario: A new neighbor moves to your town and openly and explicitly states that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were justified, legitimate, and moral. As an advocate of free speech, would you want him as your neighbor? Then, imagine that this neighbor is actually a non-U.S. citizen who immigrated from a Muslim-majority country and is seeking U.S. citizenship. Imagine further that he is on your streets inciting disruption and violence against a particular people group in town that he dislikes. He even organized stand-offs in schools and blocked businesses and schools, openly criticizing the values cherished by those in town. Furthermore, he openly supports terrorist and terrorist groups. Would you call for his immediate deportation from your town and the United States?

I would, although I am a defender of free speech.

This hypothetical scenario isn’t totally made up. It reflects elements of the true story of the Muslim activist Mahmoud Khalil, 30, who was born in Syria and immigrated to the United States in 2022. Khalil became known as a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, where he recently graduated with a master’s degree in international affairs. After marrying a Muslim U.S. citizen, Khalil obtained a U.S. green card, and became famous last year as a prominent figure in the protests at Columbia.

Khalil acted as a spokesperson for pro-Hamas activists and was involved with the anti-Israel group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD). After the Hamas attack against civilians in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, CUAD labeled the attack a “moral, military, and political victory,” describing Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar as a “brave man” who will live in the hearts of many. CUAD echoed Islamic jihad dispositions and vowed “violence is the only path forward,” stating, “We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.”

Don’t miss it: Khalil wasn’t merely cooperating with CUAD. He served as their lead spokesman and official negotiator with the university, and according to the New York Times, he was the “public face of protest against Israel.”

On March 8, 2025, Khalil was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in New York City, initially detained in New Jersey, and then transferred to a facility in Louisiana. His arrest has sparked significant attention, especially as Khalil has been perceived as supportive of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the arrest, stating that Khalil “didn’t have a right to be in the United States.” Rubio rightly stated that international students who support terrorists would and should never obtain a visa, and those who enter the country and sympathize with terrorists must be deported. For Rubio, “This is not about free speech. This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.” Rubio’s clarity is laudable.

There is a war of worldviews in this case, as evidenced in how the Islamist Muslim activist group CAIR came to the defense of Khalil and sued Columbia University for turning over student records that show disciplinary actions taken against him during the protest. The records weaken his case.

The left and Hamas sympathizers are mainly framing this whole saga around Khalil’s free speech rights, but this is reductionist and naïve. The matter involves national security and the high stakes of allowing terrorist ideologies in our midst. If a nation cannot defend itself against those who openly seek to eradicate it, its doom is imminent.

Khalil is a clear example of many Islamists who hate non-Muslim nations. They leave their chaotic Muslim-majority countries and immigrate to the United States while loathing its advancement and prosperity. These Islamists view Islam and its values as superior to any religion or civilization elsewhere, and use—or better, misuse—the freedoms granted in the West to cripple the society from within.

As long as these Islamists are few in number, they deploy a victimhood mentality and play the empathy tune to gain compassion from those whom they actually despise. Once they gain power—especially political power—they begin demanding the dissolution and replacement of the values the West cherishes.

These Islamists don’t share the values of the freedoms they misuse. They don’t see all people as equal—for them, Muslims and Jews aren’t equal. One should be defended while the other opposed. They don’t view human rights as valid and applicable for all: Gazans are more valuable than Jews and Israelis. As for the Hamas terrorists, they are called the praiseworthy resistance. The loyalties and sympathies of Khalil and his ilk are completely directed towards what would cripple this nation and dissolve its prosperity.

Don’t leave them in your midst. Send Khalil to the country he cherishes and protect our land and our families from people who loathe everything we stand for.