The Case for Immigration

On American administration’s increased persecution on immigrants, anti-Israel sentiments, and the inherently violent act of deportation

Apr 01, 2025

Since Donald Trump’s last administration, he has campaigned for the mass deportation of immigrants under the guise of unlawful entry into the United States and increased crime. ICE’s (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) stated mission is to “protect” the U.S. from cross-border crime and illegal immigration, and has even extended to raids within workplaces and schools.

In fact, on March 8 2025, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate, was detained by ICE at the compliance of the university. Khalil was involved in and led campus protests that demanded Columbia to divest from Israel. He previously was on a student visa, however, after marrying his wife, who is now 8 months pregnant, he obtained a green card that identifies him as a permanent resident of the United States.

Khalil’s detainment could possibly lead to deportation, which calls into question the preexisting rights of green card holders and free speech. It’s undeniable that, especially with the current administration and policies, the American government is increasingly moving towards creating a network that apprehends and persecutes people for simply demonstrating speech they dislike.

Trump has even signaled that anyone protesting against Israel, should be deported (under the guise of these protesters being Hamas sympathizers). As NPR’s Michel Martin asked a Department of Homeland Security official, “Is any criticism of the government a deportable offense?”

According to immigration attorney Rebecca Black, a person’s green card can, legally, be revoked if the subject is a “part of or assist[s] a terrorist group.” However, ICE has provided no evidence of Khalil doing so. A green card holder has virtually the same rights as a U.S. born citizen and by revoking his status as a permanent resident, the government would directly infringe on Khalil’s first amendment right to perform civil disobedience, a peaceful form of protest.

Maryam Iqbal, a student at Barnard College (Columbia’s little sister school) was involved in Columbia’s student encampments, and attested, “What really gets me is Mahmoud did everything that administrators claimed they wanted from us. He was always unmasked, he was extremely tactful with his words, was a legal permanent resident, was kind and patient even with those who dehumanized him, always stayed rational and calm.”

Khalil’s crime was only that of moral courage, whether one believes his protest against Israel as a state is correct or not, it must be recognized that he simply stood up for what he believed in. All the while, staying peaceful.

In a letter from his detention facility in Louisiana (where he was forcibly moved to from New Jersey, where he was already forcibly moved to from New York), Khalil wrote that he was a political prisoner, but still, “if anything, [his] detention is a testament to the strength of the student movement in shifting public opinion toward Palestinian liberation. Students have long been at the forefront of change — leading the charge against the Vietnam War, standing on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, and driving the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.”

While the current administration claims they are targeting supporters of terrorist organizations such as Hamas, the only thing demonstrated is them going after people they believe to be political dissidents. There have been no repercussions for politicians who offer material and financial support to organizations such as the IRA. Even historically, America has funded terrorist groups, such as Ronald Reagan arming the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Right wing media has even labelled drug cartels as terrorist organizations just so they can take military action inside foreign countries, yet ignores that the vast majority of domestic terrorist attacks are done by right wing extremists–often white nationalists.

Even when labeling all supporters of a free Palestine fervid antisemites, Donald Trump in particular chooses what kind of antisemitic behavior to indulge in. He calls white supremacists in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us” a “peanut” in comparison to the student encampments.

Beyond deporting university students on alleged crimes of terrorism, illegal immigration in particular is a crime that Trump has chosen to focus on–at the detriment of the community and country at large. Illegal immigration is a crime with virtually no victims (we’ll expand on that soon), and is far more a matter of paperwork than heavy criminal processes. A large portion of coverage towards ICE raids show agents targeting migrants committing heinous crimes or being non-contributing members of society, though immigrants actually commit less crimes than the average U.S. citizen. A 2024 study from Northwestern University found that from 1980 to 2022, the immigrant population doubled, yet the total crime rate decreased by 60.4%.

With 1 in 15 households having mixed immigration statuses, deportation could vastly change dynamics in families all across America. Aair Reese, a junior at St. Louis University stated, “I don't think this country has any right to come in and remove people who have been here for years, whose family has been made here, whose entire life is here. Sending them back to a country that they've not been to for years, or have never been to is a bad act with nothing good about it.”

Deportation is hardly a justifiable act, especially considering that it is another myth that immigrants do not contribute to the economy or taxes. According to the American Immigration Council, households led by undocumented immigrants paid $75.6B in total taxes and make up over 19% of the labor population.

“As ICE is racially profiling people, we are going to see that sort of treatment throughout all POC communities and that is going to bring a certain level of danger to our communities soon,” Reese continued.

Khalil echoed this sentiment, “The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa-holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs…At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.”

Hi readers! Hope this long wait was worth it! I’ve been working on this piece as a whole for a while, but after the detainment of Mahmoud Khalil a simple thesis sort of fell into place as I was researching. I’m not sure if you can tell, but this piece started off as an opinion piece for my school’s newspaper–maybe that’s why it’s more organized than normal (Shout out J for being a great Opinions editor!!) Thank you all so much for supporting me :) As usual, quarterly review up tomorrow–hope to see you there!

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