Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil seek immediate release on free speech grounds

I find it distasteful, un-Jewish and collaborationist to forge together lists of people who fail to meet a political litmus test,

Myers said

It is both possible and necessary to directly confront and address the crisis of antisemitism, on campus and across our communities, without abandoning the fundamental democratic values that have allowed Jews, and so many others, to thrive here,

said Amy Spitalnick, head of the liberal Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Well, that has to be determined.”

When asked who he was an operative for, he responded

Irrespective of the content of Mr Khalil’s speech, we firmly believe that his arrest does nothing to make Jews safer,

the groups said

We also hope that this action serves as a deterrent to others who might consider breaking the law on college campuses or anywhere.”

It added

Their attacks have incited a wave of hate, including calls for my deportation and death threats,

Khalil said

Expect naturalized citizens to start being picked up within the month,

the group’s post on X read

Obviously, any deportation action or revocation of a Green Card or visa must be undertaken in alignment with required due process protections,

the group said

Zionists don’t deserve to live.”

In another email, Khalil reportedly cited a threatening post by Betar, in which the group claimed he said ... Khalil

I think ultimately, [the administration] is interested in something larger than defending Jewish students, it’s really interested in bringing the university to its knees as a way of removing a key liberal, progressive actor from the American political game,

he said

I believe that the liberation of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people are intertwined."

They called him a "mediator and negotiator" and pointed to a spring 2024 interview with CNN in which he said

The government’s unlawful policy of targeting noncitizens for arrest and removal based on protected speech is…viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment,

Khalil’s lawyers, led by Amy Belsher of the New York Civil Liberties Foundation, wrote in a Thursday night court filing

This is a targeted, retaliatory and extreme attack on the right of free expression”

One of his lawyers, Donna Lieberman, told CNN on Friday in a TV interview ... and said

Throughout this process, Mr Khalil felt as though he was being kidnapped,

the lawyers wrote of his treatment

They’re not claiming he did anything illegal they just don’t like what he has said, ... it’s an attempt to bully students,

she added, warning

This seems like one of the biggest threats, if not the biggest threat to first amendment freedoms in 50 years,

said Brian Hauss, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union

I haven’t been able to sleep, fearing that Ice or a dangerous individual might come to my home. I urgently need legal support, and I urge you to intervene and provide the necessary protections to prevent further harm,

he wrote to Columbia’s interim president

If the government has an objective to promote fossil fuel use across the globe, for example, then the secretary of state could deem climate science advocates – or even non-citizens who own green technology firms – deportable on the ground that their residency ‘undermines the policy objective’ of promoting fossil fuels.”

The legal journal Just Security points out

It felt like a scene from a movie I never signed up to watch,

she said in a statement

If this campaign of fear (from the Trump administration) were to work, I do wonder who’s going to be left to defend critical thinking in American academia,

Madalin, an international doctoral student at Northwestern University told The Chicago Tribune