Marco Rubio Claims Arrest of Green Card Holder Mahmoud Khalil Is ‘Not About Free Speech’—Critics Aren’t Buying It
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is arguing that Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and potential deportation are not about the First Amendment but about his legal standing in the U.S. The arrest has drawn widespread criticism from the public, and lawmakers are questioning its legality.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a strong statement against visa and green card holders
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Sec. Rubio waded into the conversation about Mahmoud Kahlil’s arrest. Khalil, who holds a green card, helped organize the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. The arrest sparked immediate outrage from lawmakers and the public, questioning the legality of the arrest.
The Trump administration is using a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as its reason for the arrest. According to the Act, “an alien 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 is deportable.”
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration is pointing to foreign policy against antisemitism to justify Khalil’s arrest. Additionally, The New York Times reports that the administration claims Khalil’s presence in the U.S. undermines that objective.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, claimed in a briefing that Khalil passed pro-Hamas fliers during the protests. When pushed to produce, the press secretary refused, claiming it would “corrupt the dignity” of the White House briefing room.
Sec. Marco Rubio doubled down on his social media post
Sec. Rubio spoke with reporters and pushed back against the narrative that Khalil’s arrest violates his First Amendment rights.
“This is not about free speech. This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with,” Sec. Rubio told reporters. He added: “No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.”
Khalil was arrested on March 8, 2025, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. He was held in New Jersey before being sent to Louisiana, where he has been held without access to his attorneys.
Fourteen Democratic lawmakers signed a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The letter demands that Khalil is a “political prisoner, wrongfully and illegally detained” by immigration authorities.
The Democratic lawmakers include Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Mark Pocan (Wisc.), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Ilhan Ohmar (Minn.), Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Summer Lee (Pa.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Lateefah Simon (Calif.), Gwen Moore (Wisc.), Nikema Williams (Ga.), Al Green (Texas), Andre Carson (Ind.) and James McGovern (Mass.).
A federal judge blocked Khalil’s deportation temporarily
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman temporarily blocked the deportation to allow for a challenge to the order. On Wednesday, the same federal judge ruled that Khalil’s attorneys should be allowed privileged phone calls. Additionally, Judge Furman ordered the Department of Justice to file a motion to move the case by midnight Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
Khalil’s attorneys are pushing for the case to be moved to New York. Meanwhile, an attorney representing the Department of Justice argued that the case should be moved to New Jersey or Louisiana.
