Dems ask Trump admin to explain Khalil’s arrest, calling it ‘playbook of authoritarians’

More than 100 House Democrats on Friday sent a letter to top Trump officials, decrying the arrest of a former Columbia graduate student as an attack on the First Amendment and questioning the murky legal authority invoked by the administration.

The lawmakers, including authors Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania, addressed the letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The letter, first obtained by POLITICO, slams the use of a Cold War-era section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to deport Mahmoud Khalil as the “playbook of authoritarians.” The law was aimed at protecting national interests against potential foreign intervention.

The letter also calls on the administration to answer questions about its actions, including what “evidentiary grounds” Rubio has relied upon to conclude that Khalil’s presence in the United States threatens “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” — and what those foreign policy consequences might be.

The letter asks the administration to respond by March 27 with answers, as well as documents, including legal memoranda, that explain the administration’s findings.

“The deployment of a dusty old statutory section to punish speech is a dangerous attack on both the First Amendment and on all, including lawful permanent residents, who enjoy its protection,” the letter states. “This maneuver evokes the Alien and Sedition Acts and McCarthyism. It is the playbook of authoritarians, not of elected officials in a democratic society who claim to be the champions of free speech.”

Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student who played a central role in campus protests at Columbia University over the Israel-Hamas war, was arrested over the weekend — marking a significant shift in the U.S. government’s use of its immigration enforcement powers. Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card, but was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody as President Donald Trump promised more such arrests are coming.

The administration has argued that the protests are antisemitic, and some Jewish students have reported feeling threatened by the demonstrations on college campuses against Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The administration has accused Khalil of leading “activities aligned to Hamas,” but has not provided specific evidence — nor has he been charged or convicted of any crimes.

The administration is relying on a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 — a rarely invoked authority that allows Rubio to expel foreigners. The provision, which is set to be tested in the courts, says that any “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.”

Khalil’s detainment sparked outrage from activists, free speech groups and several Democrats. A judge has halted his deportation, but his fate remains uncertain as the arrest raises a number of legal questions, including significant constitutional ones.

“Weaponizing the immigration system to crush and chill protected free speech puts our nation on the side of authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping,” the Democrats wrote. “We urge you to turn back before you suffer another stinging loss in court and visit terrible damage on the country.”

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