FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE GREEN CARDS

Constitutional rights exist until they don't. Just ask Mahmoud Khalil, whose legal residency apparently means nothing once the government decides his free speech is a "foreign policy problem".

REMEMBER YESTERDAY when I told you they were disappearing Mahmoud Khalil? Well, turns out things are somehow getting worse.

The fuckery continues to escalate. On Monday, a federal judge in Manhattan had to issue an emergency order barring our government from deporting Khalil while the court reviews his detention. Yes, you read that right — a JUDGE had to step in to prevent this administration from yeeting a legal permanent resident out of the country for the crime of *squints at phone* speaking at a protest.

And wouldn’t you know it, but the highest-ranking officials in our government can’t even explain what crime Khalil supposedly committed. When House Speaker Mike Johnson was directly asked this question today, he went on some unhinged rant about *aspiring young terrorists* on student visas.

Except Khalil doesn’t HAVE a student visa, you breathtaking douchebaguette. He has a Green Card and is married to a pregnant American citizen. Johnson’s either deliberately lying or is so spectacularly uninformed that he’s making policy decisions based on complete fiction.

Neither option is comforting.

The Trump regime is using an obscure provision in immigration law that lets the Secretary of State expel foreigners whose presence might have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences”. That’s it. That’s the standard. This vague-as-fuck language is now being weaponized to override constitutional protections for permanent residents.

For those of you in the back: A GREEN CARD HOLDER HAS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. They have First Amendment protections. This isn’t a student visa situation — Khalil is a permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen. His eight-months-pregnant American wife is now desperately trying to locate her husband who’s been shipped to a detention facility in fucking Louisiana.

“But this only affects immigrants,” some of you might say.

Wrong.
Dead wrong.
And also, fuck that exceptionalist mentality.

What happens when the definition of “adverse foreign policy consequences”" expands? What happens when the Trump administration decides that criticizing its relationship with Russia, or Saudi Arabia, or whatever dictatorship they’re cozying up to this week constitutes a “foreign policy problem”?

And where the hell are the Democrats? MIA as bloody always with only FOURTEEN of them — out of how many hundred?! — signing a letter calling for Khalil’s release. That’s it. Fourteen. While a man with *constitutional rights* is literally being disappeared for political speech, the vast majority of Democrats are apparently busy checking poll numbers or workshopping clever infrastructure tweets.

The letter, signed by reps like Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley, correctly points out that “Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime” and was “targeted solely for his activism and organizing”. It calls this an attempt to criminalize political protest and “a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country”.

But where’s the rest of the party? Where’s the leadership? Chuck Schumer represents New York, where Khalil was kidnapped, and he’s said . . . nothing. Hakeem Jeffries? Nothing. This should be a five-alarm fire for anyone who claims to care about civil liberties, and yet unsurprisingly the silence is deafening.

The silence from the so-called free speech warriors is equally stunning. The same people who lose their minds over students protesting a transphobic author’s book tour are suspiciously quiet when the government literally detains someone for their political views. Nothing showcases the hollow center of their principles quite like this selective outrage.

What’s happening to Mahmoud Khalil isn’t just about one man. It’s about all of us.

Today they’re using this against a Palestinian activist. Tomorrow it’s environmentalists challenging their climate policies. Next week it’s journalists reporting on government corruption. The slope isn’t just a teeny-weeny bit slippery — it’s a goddamn vertical drop into fascism.

Remember what I said yesterday about community protection? It’s more crucial than ever. Create those alert systems. Build those mutual aid networks. Support immigrant defense funds. Protect your neighbors without volunteering information.

And for fuck’s sake, stop thinking this couldn’t happen to you.

The federal court hearing for Khalil is scheduled for Wednesday. His lawyers are fighting to have him transferred back to New York from Louisiana — a transparent attempt to isolate him from legal support. This is how it starts — not with dramatic midnight raids on citizens (yet), but with testing the boundaries on those with slightly fewer protections. Seeing what they can get away with.

Spoiler alert: They’re getting away with a lot.

If you want to do something concrete right now, donate to the Justice for Mahmoud Khalil fund. Your money will directly support his legal defense, help his pregnant wife during this nightmare, and contribute to getting him out of that Louisiana detention center and back to New York. The fund is already getting massive support with more than 2500 donors stepping up, but we need to hit $250,000 to cover all the legal, medical, and family support costs. Don’t have cash? Share information about his case without the both-sides bullshit. Every person who learns about this case is another potential ally against this creeping fascism.

Folks, solidarity isn’t just a hashtag. It’s recognizing that Mahmoud Khalil’s fight is our fight too. Because when they finish with him, they’ll come for the rest of us.

This isn’t hyperbole.
This is happening.
Right now.
In America.

The question isn’t whether it will get worse — it’s how much worse we’ll let it get before we actually do something about it.

Free Mahmoud Khalil.

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