{"id":115445,"date":"2025-04-18T08:02:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T16:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/18\/marco-rubio-claims-he-can-kick-lawful-permanent-residents-out-of-the-us-on-the-basis-of-their-expected-beliefs-immigration-judge-says-sounds-good\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T08:02:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T16:02:46","slug":"marco-rubio-claims-he-can-kick-lawful-permanent-residents-out-of-the-us-on-the-basis-of-their-expected-beliefs-immigration-judge-says-sounds-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/18\/marco-rubio-claims-he-can-kick-lawful-permanent-residents-out-of-the-us-on-the-basis-of-their-expected-beliefs-immigration-judge-says-sounds-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Marco Rubio Claims He Can Kick Lawful Permanent Residents Out Of The US On The Basis Of Their \u2018Expected Beliefs;\u2019 Immigration Judge Says \u2018Sounds Good\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Trump administration has just claimed an astounding new power: the ability to deport lawful permanent residents based on their \u201cexpected beliefs\u201d (including perfectly \u201clawful\u201d expected beliefs). This isn\u2019t speculation or hyperbole \u2014 it\u2019s the explicit thought-police justification Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave in immigration court documents for trying to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and green card holder. This attempted expansion of government authority to police thought should alarm anyone who cares about civil liberties, due process, or the rule of law.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, Khalil is a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) in the US and a student at Columbia University in New York. While he was involved in some pro-Palestinian demonstrations, MAGA world has falsely labeled him a \u201cHamas supporter.\u201d I\u2019ve yet to see any evidence that actually supports that claim, but MAGA isn\u2019t exactly known for accuracy in their accusations. Even worse, when ICE showed up at his student housing to arrest him (in front of his pregnant, US citizen wife), they told him his \u201cvisa\u201d was being revoked.<\/p>\n

Except he doesn\u2019t have a visa. He holds a green card, which makes him a completely lawful permanent resident in the US. ICE then told him his green card was also revoked, which isn\u2019t something they could actually do. Since then, there\u2019s been a lot of obnoxious game playing by Homeland Security playing \u201chide the guy we kidnapped,\u201d before dumping him in Louisiana and seeking to deport him.<\/p>\n

There are multiple legal proceedings going on with respect to Khalil\u2019s future in the US, with the main one taking place in a federal court in New Jersey. But down in Louisiana there\u2019s a separate legal process in front of an \u201cimmigration judge,\u201d which is not an Article III judge or a part of the judiciary at all. Rather it\u2019s someone who works for the DOJ reviewing immigration issues.<\/p>\n

For a brief moment last week, it looked like even this DOJ employee was perplexed as to why Khalil had been taken and why the US was trying to deport him. Immigration Judge Jamee Comans ordered DHS to\u00a0give some reason for why<\/a>\u00a0Khalil was detained and why they were trying to deport him.<\/p>\n

\n

At a hearing, Judge Jamee Comans gave the federal government 24 hours to turn over its evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and prominent pro-Palestinian activist, said Marc Van Der Hout, one of Khalil\u2019s attorneys, who attended the hearing.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has not produced a single shred of evidence to date to support any of its allegations or charges in this case including its outrageous position that Mahmoud\u2019s mere presence and activities in this country have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,\u201d Van Der Hout said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The next day, the government finally produced the \u201cevidence\u201d and to say it is underwhelming is quite the understatement. They released a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a bunch of vague claims, including that he could\u00a0single-handedly kick green card holders out<\/a>\u00a0of the country based on their \u201cexpected beliefs\u201d even if they are perfectly \u201clawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

If you can\u2019t read that screenshot, it says:<\/p>\n

\n

Under INA section 237(a) (4) (C)(i), an alien is deportable from the United States if the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe that the alien\u2019s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. Under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(ii), for cases in which the basis for this determination is the alien\u2019s past,<\/em>\u00a0current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful<\/em><\/strong>, the Secretary of State must personally determine that the alien\u2019s presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This document should forever define Marco Rubio\u2019s legacy. As Secretary of State, he has personally put his name on a legal claim that the government can deport lawful residents based on beliefs they might hold in the future \u2014 even if those beliefs would be perfectly legal. This isn\u2019t just standard immigration enforcement overreach \u2014 it\u2019s an attempt to establish thought-police powers that would make Orwell blush. And Rubio didn\u2019t just sign off on this theory \u2014 he\u2019s actively championing it, apparently seeing no problem with claiming the power to exile people based on what he thinks they might someday believe.<\/p>\n

For anyone keeping score at home: when MAGA supporters inevitably start ranting about Democrats wanting to police speech and thought, remember that Rubio\u2019s the one who officially claimed the power to deport legal residents based on \u201cexpected beliefs.\u201d That should be carved into his political tombstone.<\/p>\n

Also: fuck that fascist bullshit.<\/p>\n

The other part of the document claims that it was done based on the \u201cpolicy\u201d of the US to fight antisemitism and to protect Jews, but fuck that as well. It\u2019s clearly bullshit. This is the same administration that has said the Naval Academy library had to\u00a0remove books about the Holocaust<\/a>, while leaving Adolf Hitler\u2019s Mein Kampf on the shelves. This is the same administration that\u00a0hired into a top position<\/a>\u00a0someone with a long history of blatantly antisemitic conspiracy theories popular in neo-Nazi circles. This administration\u2019s claims of fighting antisemitism appear to be pretty antisemitic itself, using false claims of wanting to \u201cprotect\u201d Jews to actually make Jews targets of more hatred.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t about \u201ca compelling foreign policy interest\u201d by the Secretary State. This is about a fucking insecure coward in the form of Marco Rubio, who has been given power by Donald Trump and is using the position to destroy lives because that\u2019s what insecure fascists do.<\/p>\n

Tragically, in this case, that was enough for DOJ employee Judge Jamee Comans, who said that was enough of a justification to\u00a0bless Khalil\u2019s deportation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

An immigration judge in Louisiana found on Friday that the Trump administration could deport Mahmoud Khalil, granting the government an early victory in its efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. college campuses.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, this is only the first stage in a multi-stage process involving separate federal court proceedings in New Jersey as well, and even in front of the immigration judge the situation isn\u2019t over. Khalil\u2019s lawyers can still argue that he shouldn\u2019t be deported to this same judge (leaving aside the constitutional issues that will show up in the New Jersey case).<\/p>\n

Here, Comans admitted during the hearing that she was unable to look the larger constitutional issues:<\/p>\n

\n

Immigration judges are employees of the executive branch, not the judiciary, and often approve the Homeland Security Department\u2019s deportation efforts. It would be unusual for such a judge, serving the U.S. Attorney General, to grapple with the constitutional questions raised by Mr. Khalil\u2019s case. She would also run the risk of being fired by an administration that has targeted dissenters.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis court is without jurisdiction to entertain challenges to the validity of this law under the Constitution,\u201d Judge Comans said as she delivered her ruling, apparently reading from a written statement.<\/em><\/p>\n

She denied Mr. Khalil\u2019s lawyers\u2019 requests that they be allowed to cross-examine or depose Mr. Rubio so that he could elaborate on his claims. \u201cThis court is neither inclined or authorized\u201d to compel such testimony, she said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Khalil himself highlighted the fundamental absurdity of these proceedings in a powerful statement to the court:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI would like to quote what you said last time, that there\u2019s nothing that\u2019s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,\u201d he said. \u201cClearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process. This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The contrast could not be starker: A student, dragged 1,000 miles from his family, calmly calling out the mockery of due process, while the Secretary of State claims the power to deport people based on what he thinks they might believe in the future.<\/p>\n

This case is about far more than just Mahmoud Khalil. It\u2019s about whether we\u2019ll allow the government to claim the power to police thought itself. Marco Rubio has now officially attached his name to one of the most dangerously authoritarian theories of government power we\u2019ve seen: that the state can exile legal residents based on their \u201cexpected beliefs.\u201d That should follow him for the rest of his life. He should never live down this cowardly suck-up in pursuit of power.<\/p>\n

We need more people in America like Khalil, willing to speak truth to power even at great personal cost, and fewer power-hungry officials ready to torch fundamental civil liberties just to score political points in pursuit of the fascist destruction of the American constitutional and democratic principles.<\/p>\n

Marco Rubio Claims He Can Kick Lawful Permanent Residents Out Of The US On The Basis Of Their \u201cExpected Beliefs;\u201d Immigration Judge Says \u201cSounds Good\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Library Study Shows It\u2019s Just Politicians And Activist Groups Trying To Get Books Banned<\/a>
Florida\u2019s New Social Media Bill Says The Quiet Part Out Loud And Demands An Encryption Backdoor<\/a>
Big Telecom, Robocallers, Love Brendan Carr\u2019s Plan To Lobotomize The FCC<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Marco Rubio Claims He Can Kick Lawful Permanent Residents Out Of The US On The Basis Of Their \u2018Expected Beliefs;\u2019 Immigration Judge Says \u2018Sounds Good\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Trump administration has just claimed an astounding new power: the ability to deport lawful permanent residents based on their \u201cexpected beliefs\u201d (including perfectly \u201clawful\u201d expected beliefs). This isn\u2019t speculation or hyperbole \u2014 it\u2019s the explicit thought-police justification Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave in immigration court documents for trying to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and green card holder. This attempted expansion of government authority to police thought should alarm anyone who cares about civil liberties, due process, or the rule of law.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, Khalil is a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) in the US and a student at Columbia University in New York. While he was involved in some pro-Palestinian demonstrations, MAGA world has falsely labeled him a \u201cHamas supporter.\u201d I\u2019ve yet to see any evidence that actually supports that claim, but MAGA isn\u2019t exactly known for accuracy in their accusations. Even worse, when ICE showed up at his student housing to arrest him (in front of his pregnant, US citizen wife), they told him his \u201cvisa\u201d was being revoked.<\/p>\n

Except he doesn\u2019t have a visa. He holds a green card, which makes him a completely lawful permanent resident in the US. ICE then told him his green card was also revoked, which isn\u2019t something they could actually do. Since then, there\u2019s been a lot of obnoxious game playing by Homeland Security playing \u201chide the guy we kidnapped,\u201d before dumping him in Louisiana and seeking to deport him.<\/p>\n

There are multiple legal proceedings going on with respect to Khalil\u2019s future in the US, with the main one taking place in a federal court in New Jersey. But down in Louisiana there\u2019s a separate legal process in front of an \u201cimmigration judge,\u201d which is not an Article III judge or a part of the judiciary at all. Rather it\u2019s someone who works for the DOJ reviewing immigration issues.<\/p>\n

For a brief moment last week, it looked like even this DOJ employee was perplexed as to why Khalil had been taken and why the US was trying to deport him. Immigration Judge Jamee Comans ordered DHS to\u00a0give some reason for why<\/a>\u00a0Khalil was detained and why they were trying to deport him.<\/p>\n

\n

At a hearing, Judge Jamee Comans gave the federal government 24 hours to turn over its evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and prominent pro-Palestinian activist, said Marc Van Der Hout, one of Khalil\u2019s attorneys, who attended the hearing.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has not produced a single shred of evidence to date to support any of its allegations or charges in this case including its outrageous position that Mahmoud\u2019s mere presence and activities in this country have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,\u201d Van Der Hout said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The next day, the government finally produced the \u201cevidence\u201d and to say it is underwhelming is quite the understatement. They released a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a bunch of vague claims, including that he could\u00a0single-handedly kick green card holders out<\/a>\u00a0of the country based on their \u201cexpected beliefs\u201d even if they are perfectly \u201clawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

If you can\u2019t read that screenshot, it says:<\/p>\n

\n

Under INA section 237(a) (4) (C)(i), an alien is deportable from the United States if the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe that the alien\u2019s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. Under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(ii), for cases in which the basis for this determination is the alien\u2019s past,<\/em>\u00a0current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful<\/em><\/strong>, the Secretary of State must personally determine that the alien\u2019s presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This document should forever define Marco Rubio\u2019s legacy. As Secretary of State, he has personally put his name on a legal claim that the government can deport lawful residents based on beliefs they might hold in the future \u2014 even if those beliefs would be perfectly legal. This isn\u2019t just standard immigration enforcement overreach \u2014 it\u2019s an attempt to establish thought-police powers that would make Orwell blush. And Rubio didn\u2019t just sign off on this theory \u2014 he\u2019s actively championing it, apparently seeing no problem with claiming the power to exile people based on what he thinks they might someday believe.<\/p>\n

For anyone keeping score at home: when MAGA supporters inevitably start ranting about Democrats wanting to police speech and thought, remember that Rubio\u2019s the one who officially claimed the power to deport legal residents based on \u201cexpected beliefs.\u201d That should be carved into his political tombstone.<\/p>\n

Also: fuck that fascist bullshit.<\/p>\n

The other part of the document claims that it was done based on the \u201cpolicy\u201d of the US to fight antisemitism and to protect Jews, but fuck that as well. It\u2019s clearly bullshit. This is the same administration that has said the Naval Academy library had to\u00a0remove books about the Holocaust<\/a>, while leaving Adolf Hitler\u2019s Mein Kampf on the shelves. This is the same administration that\u00a0hired into a top position<\/a>\u00a0someone with a long history of blatantly antisemitic conspiracy theories popular in neo-Nazi circles. This administration\u2019s claims of fighting antisemitism appear to be pretty antisemitic itself, using false claims of wanting to \u201cprotect\u201d Jews to actually make Jews targets of more hatred.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t about \u201ca compelling foreign policy interest\u201d by the Secretary State. This is about a fucking insecure coward in the form of Marco Rubio, who has been given power by Donald Trump and is using the position to destroy lives because that\u2019s what insecure fascists do.<\/p>\n

Tragically, in this case, that was enough for DOJ employee Judge Jamee Comans, who said that was enough of a justification to\u00a0bless Khalil\u2019s deportation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

An immigration judge in Louisiana found on Friday that the Trump administration could deport Mahmoud Khalil, granting the government an early victory in its efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. college campuses.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, this is only the first stage in a multi-stage process involving separate federal court proceedings in New Jersey as well, and even in front of the immigration judge the situation isn\u2019t over. Khalil\u2019s lawyers can still argue that he shouldn\u2019t be deported to this same judge (leaving aside the constitutional issues that will show up in the New Jersey case).<\/p>\n

Here, Comans admitted during the hearing that she was unable to look the larger constitutional issues:<\/p>\n

\n

Immigration judges are employees of the executive branch, not the judiciary, and often approve the Homeland Security Department\u2019s deportation efforts. It would be unusual for such a judge, serving the U.S. Attorney General, to grapple with the constitutional questions raised by Mr. Khalil\u2019s case. She would also run the risk of being fired by an administration that has targeted dissenters.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis court is without jurisdiction to entertain challenges to the validity of this law under the Constitution,\u201d Judge Comans said as she delivered her ruling, apparently reading from a written statement.<\/em><\/p>\n

She denied Mr. Khalil\u2019s lawyers\u2019 requests that they be allowed to cross-examine or depose Mr. Rubio so that he could elaborate on his claims. \u201cThis court is neither inclined or authorized\u201d to compel such testimony, she said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Khalil himself highlighted the fundamental absurdity of these proceedings in a powerful statement to the court:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI would like to quote what you said last time, that there\u2019s nothing that\u2019s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,\u201d he said. \u201cClearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process. This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The contrast could not be starker: A student, dragged 1,000 miles from his family, calmly calling out the mockery of due process, while the Secretary of State claims the power to deport people based on what he thinks they might believe in the future.<\/p>\n

This case is about far more than just Mahmoud Khalil. It\u2019s about whether we\u2019ll allow the government to claim the power to police thought itself. Marco Rubio has now officially attached his name to one of the most dangerously authoritarian theories of government power we\u2019ve seen: that the state can exile legal residents based on their \u201cexpected beliefs.\u201d That should follow him for the rest of his life. He should never live down this cowardly suck-up in pursuit of power.<\/p>\n

We need more people in America like Khalil, willing to speak truth to power even at great personal cost, and fewer power-hungry officials ready to torch fundamental civil liberties just to score political points in pursuit of the fascist destruction of the American constitutional and democratic principles.<\/p>\n

Marco Rubio Claims He Can Kick Lawful Permanent Residents Out Of The US On The Basis Of Their \u201cExpected Beliefs;\u201d Immigration Judge Says \u201cSounds Good\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Library Study Shows It\u2019s Just Politicians And Activist Groups Trying To Get Books Banned<\/a>
Florida\u2019s New Social Media Bill Says The Quiet Part Out Loud And Demands An Encryption Backdoor<\/a>
Big Telecom, Robocallers, Love Brendan Carr\u2019s Plan To Lobotomize The FCC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration has just claimed an astounding new power: the ability to deport lawful permanent residents based on their \u201cexpected beliefs\u201d (including perfectly \u201clawful\u201d expected beliefs). This isn\u2019t speculation or hyperbole \u2014 it\u2019s the explicit thought-police justification Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave in immigration court documents for trying to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":115426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ea0896eb-a486-4e39-9124-9eef09a285eb-RackMultipart20250413-201-fsrhtg-YNUzan.png?fit=828%2C345&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}