The Trump administration is using a rarely invoked Cold War-era immigration statute to justify the potential deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student which they claim poses a national security threat. The threat of Khalil's deportation is reigniting debate over the limits of free speech for immigrants and the federal government's broad authority over immigration policy.
The statute in question is the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act. Originally passed during the Cold War to combat communist influence, the law allows the Secretary of State to deport non-citizens whose presence is deemed to have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."
