With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.
-- Jean-Luc Picard, from the episode "The Drumhead"
The disappearings - the moment when authoritarians begin "arresting" others and hiding them from any transparency in the legal system - under the rule of trump (and Musk) have begun (via Ximena Bustillo and Adrian Florido at NPR):
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate student at Columbia University and a green-card holder, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers over the weekend in what is likely one of the first high-profile detentions of a student who participated in the protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The arrest follows through on one of President Trump's executive actions, which directed the government to use all its tools to punish those who have engaged in "anti-Semitic harassment and violence." The executive action cites the federal law that authorizes deporting a foreign national who "endorses or espouses terrorist activity."
The move is an escalation in Trump's effort to increase deportations from the U.S. and strip protections from those who violate the new administration's priorities.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump said the arrest was the first of many to come. He vowed that his administration "will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again..."
Khalil was one of the pro-Palestinian students who negotiated on behalf of the campus protesters who pressed Columbia to divest from Israel over its war with Hamas in Gaza.
Amy Greer, Khalil's attorney, told NPR that ICE officers arrested Khalil in the lobby of his university-owned apartment.
First, they told Khalil, who's of Palestinian descent, that his student visa had been canceled. But he's not on a visa; he's a legal permanent resident. His wife went to get his green card from their apartment, but officers said his lawful permanent residency had been revoked.
"I demanded to see a warrant or have a warrant shown to me or Mr. Khalil before they removed him, and the agent hung up the phone on me," Greer said. "Mr. Khalil was under the impression that as a lawful permanent resident, that he had some modicum of protection that may not exist for people who do have student visas or who are undocumented."
Notice how the arresting officers shifted their excuses when their first allegation didn't fit reality. It didn't matter what Khalil's legal status was; they were going to violate it, claim their scalp, and drag him off to parts unknown.
While trump's people are claiming he's endorsing/supporting terrorism, all that's certain is that Khalil was protesting - under First Amendment rights - inhumane acts of genocide by Israeli forces against Gaza residents in response to Hamas' terror attack on October 7th 2023. Nobody from ICE or Homeland Security has presented any evidence that Khalil had ties to Hamas in any way.
Adding onto the horror is that in spite of Khalil having legal representation, his lawyers haven't been able to contact him. They've got reports he's been transported to Louisiana, halfway across the nation and nowhere near his wife or his attorneys. Anything - especially any level of mistreatment if not straight-up torture - could be happening to him.
trump and his Far Right thugs are claiming they're doing this to defend American Jews from antisemitism, but all they're really doing is setting up an environment where anyone - not just Palestinians or Arabs but also Jews, Blacks, Latinos, anyone deemed "Other" or "UnAmerican" - can be grabbed off the streets and punished by the unfettered bullies that answer to the Top Bully in the White House. And there's a number of Jewish organizations who understand full well what's at stake here.
To quote friend Emily L Hauser from the Horde over at Bluesky:
I have no idea what Mahmoud Khalil's politics are or what he thinks about me & mine and I actually don't care. Either freedom of speech is inalienable or it's not. The idea that my Jewish, American-Israeli, college student daughter is made unsafe by the protests SHE ATTENDS is Orwellian. 2/
— Emily L. Hauser (she/her) (@emilylhauser.bsky.social) March 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Freedom of Speech - the right to peaceably assemble, which the protestors have done, and the right to redress grievances - ought to be universal among all Americans, natural-born and naturalized and legally here. It's a right being promoted and encouraged as protestors in New York City are marching right now speaking out for Khalil's rights.
While it's looking like the courts are intervening to prevent any further harm - at least stopping any deportation effort - there's still a major struggle to regain Khalil's immigrant status and his rights to stay here in America.
This isn't just for Palestinians in America. This is also for our Jewish-Americans, for our Asian-Americans, for our African-Americans, for our Latino-Americans, for our Native-Americans, for our Trans-Americans, for our Gay/Lesbian-Americans, for any and all Americans who want to express their displeasure at a trumpian leadership looking to deny our very rights to even be citizens.
We're up against trump and his bullies looking to chain us all.
Don't let them. Your voice is your power. Speak up. Call Congress. Demand better leadership against trump's unconstitutional acts.
Break the chain.
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