#freespeech #censorship #tech
#mahmoudkhalil #students #university #democracy
#Gaza #Palestine #Syria #iran #lebanon #Genocide #geopolitics
@palestine @lebanon @yemen @irannachrichten #SettlerColonialism
#AntiImperialism #tiktok #cdnpoli
#antiPalestinianracism #canada #usa #yemen
@blackmastodon #freePalestine #GazaGenocide #IsraelTerroristState #StopGenocide
#palestina #StopAIPAC #IDFTerrorists #DismantleZionism
#tufts #columbiauniversity

NBC reviewed >100 pages of docs submitted by the federal govt in its effort to deport #MahmoudKhalil, as well as evidence filed by Khalil’s attys, including his permanent residency application, articles about his activism, & contracts & letters detailing internship & work experience.

In some instances, the #Trump admin appears to be relying on unverified #tabloid articles about Khalil. In others, the govt’s claims about him are clearly erroneous because timelines don’t match.

So, if you were wondering whether there's anything hypothetical about the "chilling effect" all this fascist repression is designed to produce in folks who oppose the Trump regime, a recent Guardian article demonstrates that it's real and ongoing - not just for anti-genocide protestors and foreign students, but for US-born critics of the regime writing in college papers too:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/07/student-journalists-remove-stories-trump

US student journalists go dark fearing Trump crusade against pro-Palestinian speech

"Fearing legal repercussions, online harassment and professional consequences, student journalists are retracting their names from published articles amid intensifying repression by the Trump administration targeting students perceived to be associated with the pro-Palestinian movement.

Editors at university newspapers say that anxiety among writers has risen since the arrest of the Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention fighting efforts to deport her. While the government has not pointed to evidence supporting its decision to revoke her visa, she wrote an op-ed last year in a student newspaper critical of Israel, spurring fears that simply expressing views in writing is now viewed as sufficient grounds for deportation.

Ozturk is one of nearly a dozen students or scholars who have been seized by immigration officials since 8 March, when Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and green card holder, was arrested and placed in deportation proceedings over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Student editors report particularly acute anxieties among international students who have contributed to their newspapers, but say that requests to take down stories over fears of retaliation are coming from US citizens, too."

The reality that no authoritarian regime wants dissidents to realize, is that they literally do not have the resources to police and punish *everyone* who opposes the state. What they rely on is cracking down on high profile targets that generate a lot of publicity, folks like Mahmoud Khalil, and Rumeysa Ozturk, to force everyone else to self censor, lest they be next. I'm not going to criticize the student writers for asking college newspapers at institutions that have shown no ability or willingness to protect them, to erase their critiques of the regime to protect their personal safety; very few people in our society are actually prepared to suffer the horrible consequences of a fascist police state targeting them personally, and a lot of people reading this would make the same decision in their shoes.

What I will say however is that this response is exactly what the fascist Trump regime wants, and that's why it behooves the rest of society to give a fuck about the free speech rights of student protestors and journalists; and act in numbers large enough to protect us all while working to stop this fascist repression by any means necessary.

"One supporter in the courtroom began to cry as the judge announced her decision.

The case is widely seen as a bellwether for whether the government can deport people for constitutionally protected speech, with momentous implications."

#Trump #fascism #immigrants #MahmoudKhalil #violence #cruelty
/9

“'There is no indication that Congress contemplated an immigration judge or even an attorney general overruling the Secretary of State on matters of foreign policy,' said Judge Comans as she made her ruling [permitting Trump to deport Mahmoud Khalil]."

~ Delaney Nolan

#Trump #fascism #immigrants #MahmoudKhalil #violence #cruelty
/8

https://zeteo.com/p/breaking-mahmoud-khalil-can-be-deported

As if it's *trying* to prove my point that the Trump regime is engaging in the fascist policing of "ideas" and the targeted repression of those who articulate them, the US government has admitted in court that it has no legal basis to detain and try to deport Columbia University graduate and activist leader Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States, besides his ideas and political positions. The government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is straight up arguing that Kahlil's opposition to Israel's US-backed genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, which it baselessly describes as "antisemitism," represents a threat to US foreign policy objectives, which in turn allows the regime to enact a rarely used provision in the Immigration Nationality Act to justify the fascist targeting of the former student protest spokesman.

In other words, the regime is admitting that Kahlil hasn't committed a crime, but is being deported for purely ideological reasons under the guise of protecting American national security; which is more or less exactly what the administration has been saying out loud until the precise moment when someone points out that this is fascism, at which point they briefly deny it.

https://theintercept.com/2025/04/10/deportation-case-mahmoud-khalil-antisemitism-rubio-trump/

The Case Against Mahmoud Khalil Hinges on Vague “Antisemitism” Claim

"Khalil’s attorneys said it’s clear the government’s case is about cracking down on his speech in support of Palestine and represents a precedent amid the Trump administration’s nationwide attacks on universities and students. The Trump administration has revoked hundreds of students since Khalil’s arrest. Many were not involved in protests at all, while some were being targeted for low-level misdemeanors.

“And where would this lead?” Van Der Hout said. “Are we going to now throw people in jail for speaking out against the Social Security cuts in this country? This is a dangerous slope, and we are taking a stand on behalf of Mahmoud, and he is taking a stand.”

“He’s decided to stay in jail and fight this case to the bitter end,” he added, “while we try to establish that people like Mahmoud have a constitutional right to speak out in this country.”

If there's an upshot here, it's that all of this is patently illegal, and even the Immigration Nationality Act little Marco is using to justify this fascist bullshit contains a provision "that prevents the secretary of state from using the “foreign policy” provision to deport someone based on an individual’s speech unless it has compelling grounds to do so." The fact that the government has refused to produce evidence that would justify deporting Kahlil probably increases his chances of being released, and soon.

The bad news of course is that the Trump regime has already ignored multiple court orders forbidding its fascist activities, and the government is openly asserting the right to target, detain, and deport, again, a *legal* permanent resident of the United States, who is married to an American citizen, for purely ideological reasons. That assertion may not survive a judge's ruling in this particular case, but with a 6-3 fascist high Supreme Court in its pocket, it feels like it's only a matter of time before the regime wins one of these arguments before a more sympathetic judge - and then there is no predicting how far the new American Nazi movement will go to crush dissent and ideological opposition to its authoritarian rule.

Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs
https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34

#TransLivesMatter
#Trump #fascism #Christofascism #transgenocide #SCOTUS #deportations #MahmoudKhalil