US expands warning of deportation to green card holders after arresting foreign student-activist married to American

The TOI correspondent from Washington: The Trump administration on Monday expanded its crackdown on foreign pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli activists within the US to embrace everlasting residents, warning that their green playing cards shall be revoked to allow them to be deported.
Days after a Chinese scholar at UCLA on a scholar visa was deported for collaborating in an anti-Israeli protest, the administration broadened the measure to embrace green card holders, after arresting a Palestinian student-activist at New York’s Columbia University who it mentioned led actions aligned to Hamas, a chosen terrorist group.
Mahmoud Khalil, the student-activist, was initially detained on the belief that he was on a scholar visa, however when it was found he was really a green card holder, which permits everlasting residency within the US and is a pathway to naturalized citizenship, authorities mentioned even the green card shall be revoked.
“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced wrote on X, opening the door for any everlasting resident indulging in actions inimical to the US or consorting with outfits the US designates as terrorist group to be deported.
US immigration legislation permits the federal government to revoke a everlasting resident’s green card and immigration standing in the event that they’ve been convicted of sure crimes, together with crimes of “moral turpitude.” As of 2024, there are practically 13 million green card holders within the US, some 10 million of whom are eligible to grow to be US residents.
Khalil, a Syrian nationwide, served as a key negotiator between college students and college officers to the top of anti-Israeli demonstrations at Columbia final 12 months, bringing him into the limelight. He was one of the few activists who publicly recognized himself at a campus that turned the epicenter of anti-Israeli protest following its assaults on Gaza in retribution for Hamas’ terrorist assault.
“On March 9, 2025, in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student. Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said, adding that ICE and the Department of State are “committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security.”
Khalil’s attorney Amy Greer told ABC News that his wife, who is eight months pregnant and a US citizen, was unable to locate him after his arrest, and alleged that the Trump administration is openly “repressing student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza.”
Khalil’s arrest and possible deportation — which is certain to be challenged in court — comes days after President Trump canned $400 million in federal funding to Columbia for its purported failure to combat the pro-Palestinian protests, which the administration has characterized as anti-semitic and involved “persistent harassment of Jewish students.”