r/politics • u/thenationmagazine The Nation Magazine • 25d ago

Soft Paywall Mahmoud Khalil Is the First Activist to Be Disappeared by Trump

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/trump-arrest-detention-mahmoud-khalil/?nc=1
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u/[deleted] 25d ago

People really need to understand this, and how it relates to why the political left is so weak in the US.

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u/as_it_was_written 25d ago

Yeah, it's pretty sobering to look at old lists of organizations the FBI was monitoring, for example. Right-wing groups generally needed to be overtly violent to make it onto such lists, while left-wing ones merely needed to exist.

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u/DoomBot5 25d ago

Now you have violent groups from both sides. One side being blinded by terrorist propaganda and the other literal nazis.

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u/Vegetable-Caramel323 25d ago

Would it be possible to explain to me like I’m 5 how it relates to why the political left is weak in US? Contextually sounds like the left was targeted, which I understand to be true, but I’m wondering if you have more specific info, have specific anecdotes.

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u/deemerritt 25d ago

McCarthyism, Hollywood censorship, going after the black panthers, going after mlk, these things all had one common denominator. They were left wing groups that threatened the status quo. The "monolithic communist threat" was used to justify all kinds of foreign and domestic policy. It's a huge part of the war on drugs. They criminalized weed and other recreational drugs to throw communist hippies in jail.

In foreign policy it would be our support of basically any fascist dictator in Latin America if there was a socialist movement in that country.

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u/Vegetable-Caramel323 24d ago

Thank you:) As others have said - I hate this timeline.

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u/Haltopen Massachusetts 25d ago

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

That's a direct quote from John Ehrlichman, White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs during the Nixon Administration. The republican party (and traditionally conservative institutions like the FBI) have been following this playbook for decades to weaken left wing movements and ensure they cant coalesce or gain enough strength to win largescale acceptance within the American public. The closest we get are the democrats who are center-left at most.

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u/BusGuilty6447 24d ago

the democrats who are center-left at most.

The Dems are right-wing. If we took a number scale from -20 to +20, 0 is the divide between socialism and capitalism, and the Dems would be like... +10, Republicans like +18, and literally Hitler at +20. People like AOC and Bernie would maybe be -3 assuming they are genuinely socialists who act maybe +3 (which is where you would find Social Democrats) in politics because the system does not allow leftist politics at all.

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u/Vegetable-Caramel323 24d ago

Thank you. I hadn’t been able to put the pieces together like that. 😫

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

The political left is hand wringing over this guy that most Americans could not give less of a fuck about. Like holy fuck I could not careless. He never should have been granted a visa in the first place.

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u/X_MswmSwmsW_X 25d ago

He's married to a us citizen and has a green card, not a visa. Everyone is worried about it because this creates a precedent to do this to more and more people for ever expanding reasons.

Are you familiar with principles?

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

This guy stands against all of my principles and I am all to happy to show him the door. He's literally passport bro getting married for a visa. I have seen immigrants get deported over a fucking eighth of weed. This guy was going around Columbia campus intimidating Jewish students trying to get to class. I'm all to happy to get rid of him.

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u/GrizzleSizzle1 25d ago

Yall really dont understand what's at stake here. This is growing into you ever having an opinion against the current party, YOU TOO will be subject to unjust punishment.

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

America has literally always been like this. Mexican-American US citizens getting deported is nothing new. 100 years ago white Americans were literally massacring black towns. I understand exactly what's at stake.

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u/GrizzleSizzle1 25d ago

And guess what? Us non whites are going to change that. Whether you all like it or not. White folks are already the minority. This is one of yalls last chances to try and impede the progress were making as a nation. Deal with it

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u/X_MswmSwmsW_X 25d ago

Dude, he has a GREEN CARD. He doesn't need a visa, never would. What are you talking about?

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

Green card holders get deported all the time for petty crimes. Green cards are a privilege that can be revoked. Anyway this is why Dems lose elections. Most Americans could not care less and would roll their eyes at the discussion itself. Instead of talking about healthcare and education for Americans you get bogged down in legalese over some asshole that hates us.

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u/X_MswmSwmsW_X 25d ago

Ok, so what crime did he commit?

Also, he went to school here, got a master's degree here, married a us citizen, and she's 8 months pregnant with his child. Doesn't seem like he hates us. He was protesting the war in support of Palestine. How is that illegal?

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u/Financial_Employer_7 25d ago

This question will remain ignored

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

I answered. You're welcome.

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/09/business/columbia-protests-divestment-invs/index.html

Making unreasonable demands and occupying university grounds while intimidating Jewish students going to class is not free speech. In fact it is a crime.

He has no business coming to this country and disrupting a university for his political agenda. He never should have been given a green card in the first place. He's literally against our culture and way of life.

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u/X_MswmSwmsW_X 25d ago

Did you actually read the article? This is from May of last year, and he specifically stated he sat out from participating in the occupation part of the protests from that time because it might cause them to revoke his student status.

But they never did.

Columbia is the school he graduated from, and he was a student, last year. None of what he did is a crime, and absolutely not one that would traditionally threaten a green card holder's status.

Have you bothered to read about the kinds of crimes that must be committed to get your green card revoked?

This is from: https://rjimmigrationlaw.com/resources/can-a-u-s-green-card-holder-be-deported/#:~:text=Top%20Reasons%20Green%20Card%20Holders,treason%2C%20or%20terrorism%2Drelated%20crimes

"Top Reasons Green Card Holders Can Be Deported

A lawful permanent resident (LPR) may be subject to removal if they:

Were inadmissible at the time they received their green card.

Violate the terms of their immigration status.

Commit certain crimes, including:

Crimes involving moral turpitude (e.g., fraud, theft, or violence)

Aggravated felonies (e.g., murder, drug trafficking, or fraud over $10,000)

Drug offenses (except for small amounts of marijuana for personal use)

Domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or violating a protective order

Firearms offenses

Espionage, sabotage, treason, or terrorism-related crimes

Engage in fraud or misrepresentation, including:

Marriage fraud

False claims to U.S. citizenship

Document fraud (forging visas, green cards, or passports)

Become a public charge (dependent on government assistance) within five years of entry.

Fail to report a change of address within 10 days of moving"

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u/0x7c365c California 25d ago

Crimes involving moral

This guy hits this one in spades. I legit can't believe I'm sitting here having to defend why this guy shouldn't be in this country.

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u/v32010 25d ago

Do you have a source that he has a green card? Every report I have seen shows he has a student visa.

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u/X_MswmSwmsW_X 25d ago

seriously? Every headline out there mentions that he is a green card holder.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-arrests-palestinian-activist-helped-lead-columbia-university-prote-rcna195562

"Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer."

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u/v32010 25d ago

Thank you, the only thing I saw mentioned before was his student visa so I was confused.

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u/rlyrlysrsly 25d ago

You are the problem. Did you read the article?

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

It's because the political left understands history a little better than most Americans. Most Americans couldn't give a fuck about Jewish people during the Nazi era until we were at war and needed a way to prove ourselves better than the literal Nazis.