Advocates warn that the U.S. government's deportation case against a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, and the subsequent arrest of others, is based solely on their protected political speech — a fact that other students at Columbia say has contributed to a climate of fear at the school.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and activist, was arrested earlier this month at this apartment in New York City, with the Trump administration claiming that his criticism of Israel undermined American foreign policy. If successful, legal experts warn that the government could use this framework to deport people for a broad variety of protected speech.
