Turkish student at Tufts sent back home after writing anti-Semitic op-ed

Enjoy your life in Turkey, Rumeysa

Turkish Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was held in ICE detention last year after her visa was revoked over alleged “activities in support of Hamas,” has returned home to Turkey following a legal settlement with the United States.The State Department canceled Ozturk’s student visa in 2024 after she co-authored an op-ed in her college newspaper calling on Tufts to recognize the “Palestinian genocide” and to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

In March 2025, ICE agents arrested Ozturk while walking on a street in Somerville, MA. She spent six weeks in federal custody before a judge ordered her release.

The government appealed the decision, but the case ultimately ended in a settlement after Ozturk completed her PhD in child study and human development.

Under the agreement, Ozturk returned to Turkey “without further interference by the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the ACLU.

“The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for,” she said in a statement released by the ACLU. “With them in mind, I am choosing to return home as planned to continue my career as a woman scholar without losing more time to the state-imposed violence and hostility I have experienced in the United States all for nothing more than co-signing an op-ed advocating for Palestinian rights.”The resolution is welcome news to the Trump administration, which has taken a more aggressive approach toward foreign students involved in anti-Israel activism.

“Attending elite colleges and universities in the United States is a privilege afforded to foreign students who respect our values and follow our laws,” a Justice Department official said in a statement to Politico. “We will continue to seek the deportation of any foreign student who abuses their opportunity to study in America by engaging in vile antisemitism, harassment, or other illegal behavior.”

Ozturk’s detention became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts and emphasis on stopping antisemitism on college campuses.

Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, accused the government of violating the Constitution.

“Rumeysa should never have been detained for expressing her opinions in a country that is supposed to protect freedom of speech,” Bhandari said.

As of early 2026, the State Department has revoked more than 100,000 visas, including roughly 8,000 student visas.In a separate case, Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian green card holder who led anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, recently lost a bid to have his deportation case thrown out.

“The bottom line is if you come here to stir up trouble on our campuses, we will deny you a visa,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last year. “These kids pay money to go to school, and they have to walk through a bunch of lunatics who are here on student visas.”

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Anti-Semite scumcrumpet Mahmoud Khalil may soon be gone

They hate America yet hate to leave

An immigration appeals board has issued a final order of removal for the anti-Israel/anti-Semitic protester Mahmoud Khalil. This decision advances the Trump administration’s determined effort to deport the execrable Columbia University graduate, according to his own legal team.

The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals ruled on Thursday to deny Khalil’s bid to dismiss the case. It marks a significant development in the administration’s broader push to remove him from the United States, a place he does not belong.

Khalil, a thirty-one-year-old lawful permanent resident, has found himself at the center of a federal crackdown on noncitizens involved in anti-Israel campus protests tied to the war in Gaza. He was, after all, the first person whose arrest became publicly known as part of that crackdown. 

His legal team wasted little time in blasting the decision. They called it “baseless and politically motivated,” insisting that the government is retaliating against his speech and lacks any real evidence to support the case [other than his disgusting hubris about Israel].

“In all my decades as an immigration lawyer, I have never seen such a baseless and politically motivated decision,” Khalil’s lead attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, said in a statement issued by the American Civil Liberties Union. “The BIA’s decision has absolutely no support in the record, violates a federal court order, and we’ll be fighting it until the end.”

The Trump administration, for its part, has argued that Khalil’s protest activity was “aligned with Hamas,” a claim cited repeatedly by the Department of Homeland Security and other officials, though authorities have not publicly detailed any specific evidence linking him to the terrorist group.

Khalil has also denied allegations of anti-Semitism. Officials have further invoked a rare foreign policy provision of U.S. immigration law, sometimes referred to as a “Rubio determination,” along with alleged issues tied to his green card application.

Despite the ruling, Khalil’s attorneys insist he cannot be deported while his separate federal habeas case continues to play out in court.

A federal judge in New Jersey previously found that the government’s justification for detaining Khalil was likely unconstitutional and ordered his release. After his arrest, Khalil spent 104 days in immigration detention, missing the birth of his first child, before that same judge ordered him freed.

Khalil later suffered a setback when a U.S. appeals panel ruled that the New Jersey judge had overstepped his authority. In a two-to-one decision, the panel held that the case must proceed through the immigration court system before it can be challenged in federal court. His lawyers are now requesting that the full appeals panel reconsider that decision. They have even asked one of the judges to step aside over his prior role as a Justice Department official involved in investigating student protesters.

Khalil himself has denied any wrongdoing and described the entire case as an attempt to silence him. After all, being an anti-Zionist isn't code for being an anti-Semite, right? Oh wait--it turns out it is. 

And like entitled children, they never clean up after themselves

“I am not surprised by this decision from the biased and politically motivated Board of Immigration Appeals,” he said in a statement released by the ACLU. “I have committed no crime. I have broken no law. The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine, and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it.” 

“My family is here. My life is here,” he added. “I reject any attempt to intimidate me out of my home based on lies and ideological attacks. This is not justice. This is just another attempt to retaliate against me.”

Khalil, a prominent organizer of the anti-Israel protests that rocked Columbia University in 2024, was initially arrested in 2025 at his university-owned apartment in New York City. Homeland Security Investigations informed him at the time that they were revoking his green card, as he is merely a guest in this country. 

He was later transferred to a detention centre in Louisiana.

He had played a major role in those protests and had even met with school officials on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition pushing the university to divest from Israel. He completed the requirements for a Columbia master’s degree in late 2024.

Born in Syria, he is the grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers noted in a legal filing. His wife, an American citizen, gave birth to their child while he was still in detention.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, previously defended the administration’s actions. She stated plainly that Khalil had allegedly distributed pro-Hamas propaganda fliers on campus, a place where it was unsafe for Jewish students to attend as they were attacked by anti-Israel anti-Semites.

“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,” Leavitt told reporters. She noted that on her desk sat the very “pro-Hamas propaganda fliers with the logo of Hamas” that Khalil was accused of distributing because there is evidence that he was.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy for siding with terrorists, period,” she said.

And Khalil is a terrorist supporter while not having the testicular magnitude to kill alongside them.

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Mamdani's wife is clearly an anti-Semite and more

Last week, New York City Democrat-socialist Mayor Comrade Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, suddenly found herself getting more public attention than the administration probably wanted. It turned out she had liked dozens of social media posts celebrating the October 7, 2023 terror attacks in Israel. Not just vague political commentary either. Some of the posts cheered the slaughter of dogs and even the kidnapping of a 12 year old Israeli boy who was tied to a tree and horrible things were done to him.

Naturally, the media and Team Mamdani rushed in with the usual cleanup routine. They waved away concerns about her social media activity by reminding everyone that she is a "private citizen" who supposedly has no influence on the mayor's policies. Funny how that works. 

Why is it that nobody in the press ever seems eager to extend that same courtesy to the private spouses of conservatives like Justices Alito and Thomas.

Now we are learning that Duwaji’s antisemitism might not be some random social media hiccup. It appears to be more of a lifestyle choice. She provided illustrations for a book compiled by Palestinian American author and "journalist" Susan Abulhawa.

Abulhawa, for those keeping score at home, has quite the résumé when it comes to ugly rhetoric. She has referred to Jews with slurs like "rootless parasites." I guess Abulhawa doesn't believe that after thousands of years with roots in Israel, it doesn't count as roots.

As Levine points out [below], Abulhawa often tries to hide behind the usual rhetorical fig leaves, directing her insults toward "Israel" or "Zionists." Sometimes, however, the mask slips and she says exactly what she means, as she does here:

Of course, the Mamdani administration quickly dismissed the concerns. A spokesperson explained, "As is common for freelance illustrators, the First Lady was commissioned to illustrate an excerpt of Abulhawa's book by an outside publisher. She has never engaged with or met Susan Abulhawa, nor had she seen the tweets in question."

That explanation did not change the basic facts. Rama Duwaji, the first lady of New York City, provided a featured illustration for an essay by an author who called Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack "spectacular," has frequently decried what she describes as "Jewish supremacist vampires," and said Jewish Israelis are "rootless soulless ghouls."

Duwaji, wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-NY), created a drawing for "A Trail of Soap," an essay in the collection Every Moment is a Life compiled by Abulhawa. The essay, published last month in Everything Is Political, which is an offshoot of the self described "environmental & social justice nonprofit organization" Slow Factory, tells the story of a Gazan woman searching for a bathroom in the territory.

Abulhawa, an author and anti Israel activist, has a long record of cheering on terror and demonizing Jews. Just days after Oct. 7, she wrote an op ed in Electronic Intifada where she called the massacres "a spectacular moment that shocked the world" and suggested that Israel, the real victim, allowed the attack to happen. 

Earlier this week, Duwaji and Mamdani hosted Hamas supporter Mahmoud Khalil for dinner at Gracie Mansion.

There is definitely a theme here.

While they scream that President Trump and Republicans are "Nazis," this is who Democrats embrace and elevate: antisemites and anti Israel activists. New York is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. They have every right to know whether their mayor and his wife despise them, or support people who do.

Can you guess the truth?

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DHS Drops the Hammer: Mahmoud Khalil's Algerian Vacation Is About to Get Real

Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals did what appellate courts occasionally remember to do: side with sanity and smack down a lower-court judge who thought he could play king of the immigration hill. The ruling was a clean win for the Trump administration in the long-running deportation saga of former Columbia University darling Mahmoud Khalil.

Khalil, the 30-year-old Syrian-born so-called Palestinian activist who's spent the better part of the last year lawyering his way out of consequences, got nabbed by ICE back in March. He cooled his heels in a Louisiana detention facility until June, when a New Jersey judge decided he was special and ordered him sprung. 

Turns out, that judge was swinging way above his pay grade. The appeals court politely informed him that no, he didn't have the authority to issue such a ruling. Shocking, I know, but judges have been misjudging their absolute power since there had been laws on the books.

Now comes the fun part. A top Department of Homeland Security official spilled the beans to NewsNation's Katie Pavlich: Khalil's about to get rearrested and shipped off to beautiful, sunny Algeria.

Mahmoud Khalil, the Syrian-born activist the Trump administration has sought to deport over pro-Palestinian demonstrations he helped organize in New York, will be retaken into custody and sent to the North African country of Algeria, a top official with the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

Khalil and his attorneys have spent months playing constitutional whack-a-mole with the White House's efforts to remove the green card holder, who is of Palestinian heritage, insisting it would violate the Constitution. An appellate court decision last week, however, was widely seen as a victory for the Trump administration.

"It looks like he'll go to Algeria. That's what the thought is right now," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs.

"It's a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country, act like it," McLaughlin said.

The Trump team has been saying since early last year that Khalil was providing support to Hamas and that he got creative with the truth on his residency paperwork. Khalil, never one to go quietly, has countersued the administration for $20 million, claiming false imprisonment and "malicious prosecution." Because nothing says "I'm being persecuted" like organizing campus chaos and then crying foul when the bill comes due.

Look, this isn't rocket science. You come here as a guest, whether on a visa or a green card, and decide the best use of your time is helping organize protests that cozy up to terrorist sympathizers and generally make life miserable for everyone else, don't be surprised when the door hits you in the butt on the way out. McLaughlin nailed it: act like a guest. Or don't. 

But Algeria is waiting, and it doesn't do campus tents and chants.

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Score one for borders, rule of law, and not letting Ivy League protest tourism turn into permanent residency. Welcome back to reality, folks. It's refreshing out here.

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Trump labels Mahmoud Khalil 'a terrorist sympathizer' as he refuses to condemn Hamas

Here we go again with the left’s favorite game: defend the indefensible. 

Mahmoud Khalil, the guy the Trump administration rightly wanted to deport, sparked a tantrum from campus snowflakes and their media cheerleaders. The scumcrumpet simply couldn’t bring himself to condemn Hamas during a Comedy News Network (CNN) interview. 

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t mince words, slamming him with, "Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS 'painted’ him as one." Boom! Truth bomb dropped.

Khalil, who’s now whining for a $20 million payday from the Trump administration, got the kid-glove treatment from CNN's dynamic duo, Wolf 'take-a-breath' Blitzer and Pamela Brown. Brown, showing her bias like a neon sign, parroted some United Nations Special Committee balderdash claiming Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in spite of the lengths the IDF goes to undertake targeted attacks. In fact, historically, Israel has the lowest percentage of innocent-to-combatants' death ratio.

Blitzer, not to be outdone, cherry-picked a clip of Khalil mouthing off against anti-Semitism, while Brown cooed, "You’ve consistently condemned anti-Semitism before and since your arrest." 

What did these two dhimmi leftists conveniently ignore? Khalil’s starring role leading Columbia University undergrads in a love fest for Hamas after its October 7, 2023, slaughter. 

Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) laid it bare: "He served as the negotiator on behalf of the occupying students with the university, pressuring the administration to accommodate student demands based on their illegal activity. He helped organize an illegal encampment on the campus that denied access to ‘Zionist’ students." That’s right, this piece of human excrement was orchestrating a pro-Hamas circus, bullying Jews and breaking rules, all while hiding behind "free speech."

When Brown tried to pin him down, asking, "Do you specifically condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, not just for their actions on October 7," Khalil did what every terrorist apologist does: he dodged. "I condemn the killing of all civilians, full stop," he said. Then he pivoted to, "But what I don’t want to get into is, no. I am clear with condemning all civilians. I’m very straight in my position in that part. But it's disingenuous to ask about condemning Hamas while Palestinians are the ones being starved now by Israel."

The only reason Gazans are starving, if true, is because Hamas is confiscated the food supplies. Israel has sent thousands of tons of food to Gaza only to have it confiscated by the Hamassholes.

Brown pushed back, saying, "It is fair to ask you about whether you can condemn Hamas because the Trump administration has claimed that you are a Hamas sympathizer. So, it’s very important to actually ask that question in this broad conversation." 

But Khalil, true to form, weaseled out again: "Yes. I simply asked and protested the war in Palestine. That's what I did. That's my duty as a Palestinian, as a human being right now, is to ask for the stop of the killing in my home country. And that's consistent with who I am. I’m a firm believer in international law and human rights and all my values come from that. … And that’s why I wouldn’t really engage in much into such questions on condemnation or not, because selective condemnation is not—wouldn’t get us anywhere." As Greta Thunberg famously said: Blah, blah, blah. 

Human rights? Tell that to the Jews he harassed.

DHS wasn't having it, and they came out swinging: "Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as an anti-Semite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric. It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property." 

Mic drop. That’s how you call out a terrorist fanboy playing the victim card.

Khalil’s not a martyr, guys. He’s a dickwad who got caught cheering for the bad guys and now wants a jackpot for his troubles. The left can cry all they want, but actions have consequences. Maybe next time, he’ll think twice before cozying up to Hamas . . . but I doubt it.

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Hamas-supporting anarchist take over Columbia U. library during finals

Over a hundred masked anti-Israel, Jew-hating protesters stormed Columbia University’s Butler Library like a pack of wolves, shoving past campus security and turning the place into their personal soapbox. Finals are looming, but these folks don’t care— they’ve got a point to make.

Non-protesting students, just trying to cram for exams, told Fox News they were forced to ditch their books and leave. “We were studying, and now we’re out here,” one student fumed.

The protesters? They’re riding hard for Mahmoud Khalil, the alleged mastermind of Columbia’s pro-Palestinian chaos, plus other students in the mix. They’ve slapped flyers everywhere, boldly dubbing Butler Library the “Basel Al-Araj Popular University.” Oh, and that “liberation zone”? Yeah, they’re claiming that too.

Inside, it’s a circus. Students say the protesters are climbing desks, hollering “Free Palestine,” and demanding Columbia cut ties with Israel. Some worry this is just the prelude to another encampment popping up like last year’s mess.

 
Campus cops aren’t playing. Public safety officials reportedly cornered the masked crew, telling them they’re stuck in the library until they flash ID cards. No ID, no exit. Tough luck.

Columbia’s not having it. A university spokesperson dropped a verbal hammer on Wednesday: “These disruptions of our campus and academic activities will not be tolerated.”

“Unfortunately, the University is dealing with a disruption in reading room 301 of Butler Library. Columbia’s Public Safety Team is responding and working to mitigate the situation,” the spokesperson said. “Individuals have been asked for identification, which will be recorded, and asked to disperse. They have been told that failure to comply will result in violations of our rules and policies and possible arrest.

“No individuals who have been protesting in the reading room have chosen, at this point, to identify themselves and depart. Individuals who were not involved in the protest have been allowed to leave,” they added. “While this is isolated to one room in the library, it is completely unacceptable that some individuals are choosing to disrupt academic activities as our students are studying and preparing for final exams.

“These disruptions of our campus and academic activities will not be tolerated,” the statement doubled down. “Individuals found to be in violation of University Rules and policies will face disciplinary consequences. We ask our community members to please avoid the immediate area near Butler Library in the near term.”

This isn’t Columbia’s first such situation.. 

Last month, the university warned it’d rip down any new encampments and maybe even cuff troublemakers if they tried pulling last year’s stunts again. Those protests saw students seize Hamilton Hall, clash with riot-gear-clad cops, and end with over 200 arrests. It all kicked off after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which left 1,200 dead and sparked global outrage.

Columbia’s brass made it clear: set up tents, you’re outta here. “Authorities would immediately take steps to remove tents or other structures and tell demonstrators to disperse,” they said. Free speech? Sure, they’re all for it— but follow the rules, or it’s game over.

The drama’s already cost the university big. President Minouche Shafik bailed after taking heat for months over her handling of the protests, which often spiraled into ugly clashes and fueled accusations of antisemitism on campus.

 
Then there’s the money. Trump yanked $400 million in grants from Columbia in March, citing the antisemitism surge. That hit hard, forcing the university to bend to some demands just to claw back funding.

Columbia’s walking a tightrope, and the library’s just the latest battleground.

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Judge rules pro-Hamasshole from Columbia U. can be deported

Au revoir ma petit Hamasshole

In a ruling that cuts through the fog of moral equivocation, an immigration judge in Louisiana, Jamee Comans, has declared that Mahmoud Khalil—detained for orchestrating anti-Israel protests at Columbia University—can be deported. 

The decision, delivered on Friday, grants Khalil until April 23 to appeal, though the clarity of the case suggests such efforts may be futile. Judge Comans, having demanded proof from the U.S. government by Wednesday, found the burden met, thanks in no small part to a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio’s words were unflinching: Khalil had led “anti-Semitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.” He went further, invoking the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which empowers the Secretary to expel those whose presence risks “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” 

Rubio’s logic is ironclad: “Condoning anti-Semitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective.” Here is a government, and a President, at last, unafraid to name the problem and act upon it.

The news broke on Fox, with Martha MacCallum relaying the update during The Story, courtesy of Brooke Taylor’s live dispatch. The Trump administration, it seems, is wasting no time in restoring order—a point underscored by the swiftness of this ruling.

BREAKING: A judge rules that the Trump administration can move forward with deportation efforts for Mahmoud Khalil. | @brooketaylortv @marthamaccallum pic.twitter.com/JmAGnd3RPu

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 11, 2025

Khalil, predictably, cried foul, alleging bias and claiming the administration had shipped him to a distant court to rig the outcome. “I would like to quote what you said last time that there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness. Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process,” the terrorist supporting, anti-Semite whined, then added, “This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months.” 

The self-pity of this guy is almost palpable, but it rings hollow. When one chooses to lead campaigns that intimidate and disrupt, one cannot be surprised when consequences arrive with equal decisiveness.

This is not about silencing dissent; it is about defending the principles that allow civilized societies to function. Khalil’s actions, as Rubio rightly noted, threaten not just Jewish students but the very fabric of rational discourse. The court’s ruling is a rare moment of clarity in an age too often clouded by cowardice and compromise.

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Rashida Tlaib offers anti-Israel/anti-Semitic amendment to reduce foreign influence on US universities

Rashida Tlaib, the Democratic Representative from Michigan, has once again demonstrated her unwavering commitment to the anti-Israel cause by introducing an amendment to the Republican-led DETERRENT Act. 

This legislation is designed to curb the influence of foreign gifts and contracts at American universities, and has been met with Tlaib's insistence that Israel's relationships with these institutions must be subjected to intense scrutiny. 

One can almost hear the echoes of age-old prejudices in her words as she spoke on the House floor, demanding that Israel be added to the "countries of concern" meddling in American academia.

Tlaib, a figure who has made no secret of her disdain for Israel, [and thus, the Jews] had the audacity of dope to claim that the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act is nothing more than a Republican ploy to "scapegoat" the woes of US higher education on nations like Iran, Qatar, and China. Yet, the act itself, if passed, would sensibly amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to limit contracts with adversarial foreign entities, mandate disclosure of gifts and contracts from foreign actors by faculty and staff, and require transparency regarding certain foreign investments within endowments.

In a moment of breathtaking absurdity, Tlaib declared, "We know that President Trump is the biggest threat to our education system in America right now, not someone in North Korea or China, so please give me a break." 

She then tacked on an amendment to ensure the bill includes "countries whose leaders have active arrest warrants issued against them by the International Criminal Court [ICC]" and "countries actively on trial with the International Court of Justice [ICJ] for violating the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions." 

This, of course, is a thinly veiled attack on Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant face ludicrous ICC arrest warrants for alleged war crimes in Gaza, while South Africa pursues a baseless case at the ICJ accusing Israel of "state-led genocide" in its defensive war against the terrorist group Hamas.

Both American and Israeli leaders have rightly condemned these actions by the ICC and ICJ as groundless and indicative of a deep-seated anti-Israel bias. Yet Tlaib, in her speech, pointed to her colleagues' support for Israel as evidence of their supposed failure in "holding countries with human rights abuses accountable" and their reluctance to "uphold international law." 

The irony is palpable as she accuses her fellow lawmakers of protecting the "Israeli government apartheid regime" by supporting the detainment and arrest of non-citizen college students who protest Israel.

In the 17 months since Hamas's barbaric invasion and massacre across southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Tlaib has unleashed a torrent of vitriol against the Jewish state. As the only Palestinian American woman in Congress, she has repeatedly accused Israel of "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, as well as causing a famine—claims that fly in the face of the Israeli military's efforts to minimize civilian casualties and facilitate aid to the enclave. 

"This is not about transparency, as it is claimed. It’s truly about destroying freedom of speech," Tlaib asserted, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the DETERRENT Act addresses legitimate concerns over foreign adversaries using financial influence to censor free speech and spread anti-Western propaganda in American universities.

The issue gained urgency in Washington following the October 7 attacks, as campuses became breeding grounds for anti-Zionist [read: anti-Semites] and anti-American protests. Critics have long warned of the lavish financial gifts and investments bestowed upon American universities by countries like Qatar, which harbors high-ranking Hamas leaders living in luxury outside Gaza while severely restricting academic freedom at American schools operating within its borders. 

The legislation also coincides with the Trump administration's efforts to detain and deport non-citizens accused of supporting terrorist groups, such as Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian legal resident from Syria apprehended for supporting Hamas after completing post-graduate studies at Columbia.

Tlaib's outrage over Khalil's arrest led her to pen a letter to Homeland Security's Kristi Noem, demanding that he be "freed from DHS custody immediately." The missive further alleged that Khalil's arrest exemplifies the Trump administration's "anti-Palestinian racism" and accused the White House of attempting to dismantle the "Palestine solidarity movement in this country." 

One might ask whether Tlaib's unwavering support for such figures and her relentless attacks on Israel reveal more about her own biases than those she claims to oppose.

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Columbia U. leader Mahmoud Khalil forgot to mention something important on his visa application as per feds

In a plot twist wilder than a Babylon Bee headline, the Trump administration has accused Mahmoud Khalil—a Columbia University student and anti-Israel, anti-Semitic protest ringleader—of hiding his gig with a United Nations Palestinian relief agency on his visa application. The feds say this sneaky omission is grounds to boot him out of the country faster than you can say "deportation hearing."

Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder married to an American Muslima, got nabbed by ICE agents on March 8. 

In a court brief dated Sunday, the U.S. government laid out its case to keep Khalil behind bars while they figure out how to ship him back to wherever he came from. Spoiler: it’s complicated—he’s a Syrian native and Algerian citizen who rolled into the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 before angling for permanent residency in 2024.

The Department of Justice claims Khalil pulled a fast one when he applied to tweak his immigration status, conveniently forgetting to mention his "membership in certain organizations." Among those? The United Nation's Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which lost tens of millions in U.S. funding after Israel accused 12 of its members of joining Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack. 

The DOJ says Khalil was a political officer for UNRWA from June to November 2023 but kept it hush-hush on his paperwork. I wonder why.

But wait, there’s more! 

Khalil also allegedly failed to disclose he was working at the Syria office in the British embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, while applying for his visa. Oh, and he didn’t mention his membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the Ivy League’s premier anti-Israel protest club. Sneaky, sneaky.

That's about as bad as Hunter Biden lying about not using drugs on his federal gun application.

The DOJ doubled down Sunday, arguing that Khalil’s alleged lies on his application are an "independent basis" for deportation, trumping any free speech whining he might try. 

"Regardless of his allegations concerning political speech, Khalil withheld membership in certain organizations and failed to disclose continuing employment by the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he submitted his adjustment of status application," they said. "It is black-letter law that misrepresentations in this context are not protected speech."

"Thus, Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring, and there is an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim here," they added, probably while sipping coffee and high-fiving.

Khalil’s the first scalp in the Trump admin’s quest to revoke student visas for protest-happy foreigners, a crusade sparked by the chaos of anti-Israel campus meltdowns after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. 

During his campaign, Trump vowed to crack down, and he’s not messing around. "To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you," Trump declared in a White House fact sheet. "I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before."

So, will Khalil get the boot? Stay tuned—unless you’re him, in which case, maybe start packing.

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Ilhan Omar's jihadi daughter promotes fundraiser for Hamas-loving activist Khalil, in ICE custody

Isra Hirsi, Ilhan Omar's daughter, looks just like her uncle

Isra Hirsi, spawn of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), is out there stumping for her buddy Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist and foreign national who’s now staring down the barrel of deportation thanks to the Trump administration. 

Why? Oh, just some light pro-Hamas, Jew-hating campus rabble-rousing. No biggie. Hirsi’s all in on a fundraiser to keep this guy afloat while ICE sharpens its claws.

The online cash grab kicked off after ICE scooped up Khalil on Saturday night—his visa and green card got the State Department’s shredder treatment. By Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser was swimming in nearly $270,000, blowing past its $250,000 target. Greedy much? They’ve now jacked the goal to $500,000. 

Cha-ching.

Hirsi—Barnard College senior, far-left firebrand, and proud anti-Semitic pest—flashed a screenshot of the money pile on her Instagram story Tuesday, linking the fundraiser when it was sitting pretty at $115,000.

According to the page, the dough’s earmarked for “Mahmoud and his family’s urgent and evolving needs as we work to secure his release and support his family during this incredibly difficult time.” Translation: legal fees, maybe bail if he gets lucky, family handouts, doctor bills, and—here’s the kicker—“long-term justice efforts” to “hold those responsible for his unlawful detention accountable.” Yeah, good luck with that.

The fundraiser wraps up with some melodramatic flair: “Mahmoud has dedicated his life to fighting for justice. Now, he needs us to fight for him. Let’s stand together and bring him home.” 

Cue the violins.

On Monday, a New York judge hit pause on Khalil’s one-way ticket out of here while a federal court chews over his whining petition claiming “no basis” for his arrest. Judge Jesse Furman gave both sides until Friday to cough up a joint letter on what’s next. Tick-tock.

Hirsi, never one to miss a chance to dunk on the spineless, fired off another Instagram story shading university faculty who’ve gone radio silent on Khalil’s plight. She reposted some jab about “the academic cowers” and tacked on, “if you are wondering where our esteemed faculty are … shameful behavior.” Oof, shots fired.

This chick’s no stranger to the radical deep end. She dove headfirst into the anti-Israel swamp after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, slaughter-fest. You’ll catch her at Columbia University protests—Barnard’s sister school—where she got nabbed and suspended in April for squatting in an illegal encampment.

Alongside Khalil, she’s a big shot with Columbia University Apartheid Divest and Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, two outfits that drool over “armed resistance” and cheerlead for terrorists. These are the same clowns who recently stormed two Barnard buildings, handing out Hamas fan fiction and brawling with security—one guard ended up in the hospital. Video’s got Khalil right in the thick of the latest chaos.

Post-suspension, Hirsi griped to Teen Vogue about being left homeless and starving. Rough gig. Then, on the one-year mark of Hamas’s 1,000-plus Israeli body count, she dropped an Instagram pic captioned, “Resistance is glorious, we will be victorious.” Subtle.

Oh, and get this: the Washington Free Beacon dug up that Hirsi—daughter of Somali immigrants—has been pocketing “reparations” from her white pals on Juneteenth since 2019. Reparations? For what, exactly? Last I checked, Juneteenth is about slavery’s end in 1865—little fuzzy on how that math works for her. She didn’t bother responding to questions about it.

Meanwhile, New York’s anti-Israel crew clashed with cops Tuesday at a rowdy protest over Khalil’s lockup—couple of them got cuffed. It was part of some grand nationwide walkout by the elite college crowd. In the mix? Aidan Parisi, a Columbia grad student nabbed last spring for storming Hamilton Hall and suspended for hosting terror-tied speakers who wanna see Jews bleed. Maryam Iqbal, a Barnard loudmouth, was there too—busted with Parisi during Columbia’s encampment fiasco.

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Over at Columbia, about 40 faculty and students ditched class to chant outside the Low Memorial Library, taking swings at interim prez Katrina Armstrong: “We will never let this slide, Katrina Armstrong you can’t hide” and “Katrina Armstrong what do you say, how many boots did you lick today.” Savage.
Armstrong clapped back Wednesday with a statement dripping in platitudes: “I stand by my students, all of my students. I support their right to express their views and to participate in open and respectful dialogue and debate. I feel the same responsibility for the wellbeing of all Columbia students as I do for my patients as their doctor. There is nothing more important to me.” Sure, doc.

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Palestinian activist who led Columbia U. protests arrested by ICE

Probably not Ilhan Omar behind him

Shalom Mahmoud.

In a move that ought to raise eyebrows among those still clinging to the notion of institutional integrity, a prominent Palestinian activist, Mahmoud Khalil, who spearheaded Columbia University's 2024 student encampment protests, found himself apprehended and arrested on Saturday night in New York City.

Federal immigration authorities, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer in a library, claimed they were acting on a State Department order to revoke his green card, or so his attorney, Amy Greer, relayed to The Associated Press. One can almost hear the bureaucratic machinery grinding away, indifferent to the human cost.

Khalil was ensconced in his university-owned apartment, just blocks from Columbia’s Manhattan campus, when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed the building and hauled him into custody. Greer recounted to the AP that one agent, in a phone call dripping with officiousness, informed her they were executing a State Department directive to nix Khalil’s student visa. When she pointed out that Khalil, a December graduate, held permanent residency via a green card, the agent nonchalantly declared they were revoking that too. A tidy little escalation, wouldn’t you say?

This arrest dovetails neatly with President Trump’s bombastic pledge to deport foreign students and jail “agitators” tangled up in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. The administration has trained its gimlet eye on Columbia, announcing on Friday a $400 million slash in grants and contracts—a punitive measure ostensibly tied to the Ivy League’s supposed failure to stamp out antisemitism on campus. One might wonder if this is less about principle and more about settling scores.

Greer noted that the authorities saw fit to leave Khalil’s wife—eight months pregnant, no less—in the dark about why her husband was being carted off. “We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained,” she told The AP. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats.” Khalil, meanwhile, has been shuttled to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he presumably sits, a pawn in a larger game.

A Columbia spokesperson, with the practiced neutrality of a tightrope walker, insisted that law enforcement must brandish a warrant before setting foot on university property. Yet they declined to confirm whether such a warrant was produced for Khalil’s arrest. The university’s website offered this gem: “There have been reports of ICE around campus. Columbia has and will continue to follow the law. Consistent with our longstanding practice and the practice of cities and institutions throughout the country, law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including University buildings. Columbia is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting our student body and campus community.” A masterpiece of saying much while revealing little.

Khalil, it should be said, had emerged as a poster boy for the pro-Palestinian cause at Columbia. When students pitched their tents last spring, he was tapped as a negotiator, parleying frequently with university administrators. Come September, with classes back in swing, he told The AP with defiance: “As long as Columbia continues to invest and to benefit from Israeli apartheid, the students will continue to resist.” A sentiment that, whatever one makes of it, has now landed him in the crosshairs of a system that seems less interested in dialogue than in deportation.

Here we see the collision of ideology and power, played out on the stage of a prestigious university that once prided itself on free thought. The question lingers: is this justice, or merely the heavy hand of retribution dressed up as policy? History, as ever, will be the judge.

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