CHICAGO: Deporting green-card holder Mahmoud Khalil from the US would fuel widespread persecution and targeting of Arabs and Muslims who “dare to criticize” Israel, a civil rights attorney told Arab News.

David Chami represented 22 of 27 students who were expelled from Arizona State University after being accused of trespassing and damage to property.

But he said neither his 22 clients nor Columbia University student Khalil committed any serious offense that would justify any form of punishment.

“Without a doubt, what ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the government are doing violates the Constitution and the fundamental laws of this country,” Chami added.

Khalil’s case “could open the door to thousands of expulsions if they want to continue targeting and harassing students.

“I mean, if you start alleging that your opinions about Palestine or Israel are enough for me to associate you with supporting terrorism, all of a sudden everyone’s out, right? Because anyone who’s anti-genocide, who’s against Israeli policies, becomes a target.”

The real aim “is to shut everybody up,” Chami said, adding that under US law, Khalil or any green-card holder would have to be convicted of a “serious crime” before being deported.

“They’re just going to try to throw Mahmoud Khalil out of the country extra-judicially,” Chami said. “If that happens, all of a sudden you’ll start to see green-card holders becoming targeted for their speech, things they said online on social media, and not even being at a protest at all.

“What’s next? They might target former green-card holders who are now American citizens, and people who weren’t born here. They might try to undo their citizenship.”

Chami said green-card holders, who are one step away from becoming official citizens, can only be deported after being convicted of very specific crimes under US immigration laws.

“They include crimes of moral turpitude like fraud, theft, violence, or lying on your application,” he added.

“They’d have to commit some sort of aggravated felony like murder, or drug trafficking, or some other drug offense.

“You could be accused of a crime, but that still wouldn’t provide a basis for deportation. You’d have to be convicted first. … But they aren’t trying to prosecute or convict him.”

Khalil, the son of Palestinian refugees, was born in Syria and holds Algerian citizenship. After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Lebanese American University, he enrolled at Columbia University in 2022, studying in the School of International and Public Affairs. He completed his studies last December and was scheduled to graduate in May.

Khalil was arrested at his home on March 8 by ICE officers. His attempted expulsion has fueled an atmosphere of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia that is being parroted by American traditional and social media, Chami said.

Although US District Judge Jesse Furman on Wednesday extended an order that temporarily blocks Khalil’s deportation, Chami said he is concerned that ICE could expel him without completing the judicial process. “The question is, where would they expel him to?” Chami asked.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee called Khalil’s arrest “an extreme and blatant act of political retaliation for his First Amendment-protected advocacy.”

Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, said the arrest “is of enormous concern to academic freedom and freedom of speech.”