Marco Rubio threatens to deport green card holders over pro-Palestine protests

Rubio’s comments come after ICE agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of Columbia University pro-Palestine protests last spring

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened to deport green card holders involved in pro-Palestine protests, marking a stark escalation of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on student activists.

Rubio shared an Associated Press article about Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and lead negotiator for the Gaza solidarity encampment who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York on Saturday evening. He was detained by cops despite holding a green card, making him a lawful U.S. resident.

“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Rubio tweeted alongside a link to the article.

Critics have condemned Rubio’s comments – and Khalil's arrest – as a violation of the First Amendment which protects the freedom of speech and assembly. More than 832,000 people had signed an online petition calling for Khalil’s release by Monday morning.

On Sunday evening, the Department of Homeland Security described the arrest as being “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism,” while also alleging that “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

Marco Rubio - pictured in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last month - has vowed to revoke green cards and visas of ‘Hamas supporters’ after Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest (AP)

The DHS can initiate deportation proceedings against green card holders for a range of criminal activities – including offering support for a terrorist organization. However, the legal foundations for the detention of a permanent U.S. resident who has not been charged with a crime remain questionable.

The Secretary of State’s comments appeared to build on Trump's executive order in January warning anyone involved in “pro-jihadist protests” and “all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses” would be detained and deported.

The administration has claimed protestors had relinquished their rights to remain in the U.S. by supporting Hamas.

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil on the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024 (AP)

On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would pull $400 million in funding from Columbia University, canceling grants and contracts over what four government agencies described as “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

The university was at the epicenter of student protests against the Gaza war that swept across college campuses across virtually every U.S. state last spring.

Just days earlier, the president threatened to pull funding from schools, colleges and universities that allow “illegal protests” on Tuesday.

The Trump administration is said to be planning to use artificial intelligence to scrape social media in search of students perceived to support Hamas and other terrorist organizations, part of a program to “catch and revoke” their student visas, according to Axios.