Parsing Immigration Policy The Mahmoud Khalil Deportation Case
Mar 27, 2025
44:19
In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Center for Immigration Studies analysts discuss the legal and policy implications of the Mahmoud Khalil case.
Khalil, a Palestinian/Syrian/Algerian green card holder, was involved in pro-Hamas protests when a graduate student on a nonimmigrant visa at Columbia University. DHS charged Khalil under Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which renders deportable any noncitizen “whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
CIS’s Andrew Arthur and George Fishman review the facts of the case, analyze the constitutional and legal questions of what they predict will be a potential test for future efforts to remove noncitizens who support terrorism, and offer predictions. Four main questions are highlighted:
Host
Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies
Guests
Andrew Arthur is a Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.
George Fishman is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Related
For more analysis, see our topic page: The Case of Mahmoud Khalil
Intro Montage
Voices in the opening montage:
Khalil, a Palestinian/Syrian/Algerian green card holder, was involved in pro-Hamas protests when a graduate student on a nonimmigrant visa at Columbia University. DHS charged Khalil under Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which renders deportable any noncitizen “whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
CIS’s Andrew Arthur and George Fishman review the facts of the case, analyze the constitutional and legal questions of what they predict will be a potential test for future efforts to remove noncitizens who support terrorism, and offer predictions. Four main questions are highlighted:
- Is this a free speech case? Can a noncitizen be removed for speech or action supporting a terrorist organization?
- Is this a foreign policy case? How does the government define “serious adverse foreign policy consequences”?
- What are the judicial precedents? How will courts balance foreign policy concerns against constitutional rights?
- Will this case set clearer lines on what a non-citizen can and cannot do? There is a need for the law to settle the spectrum of rights that apply to a spectrum of status. Will this be the case that will provide legal clarity?
Host
Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies
Guests
Andrew Arthur is a Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.
George Fishman is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Related
For more analysis, see our topic page: The Case of Mahmoud Khalil
Intro Montage
Voices in the opening montage:
- Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
- Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
- President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
- Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
- Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
- Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
- Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
- Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
- Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
- Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".