US Can Deport Green Card Holders Who Support Terrorism

Last week, President Donald Trump began keeping yet another of his promises—this time, to deport foreign nationals who support terrorism.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department “revoked the first visa of an alien who was previously cited for criminal behavior in connection with Hamas-supporting disruptions,” a department official told Fox News. “This individual was a university student. ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will proceed with removing this person from the country.”

As we’ve explained previously, federal law allows both the denial of admission to, and the deportation of, foreign nationals who support terrorism. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, “Any alien—who endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization … is inadmissible.”

If a student visa applicant is known to “endorse or espouse” terrorism, the consular officer interviewing him at a U.S. Embassy or consulate overseas should deny him a visa.

But what if a foreign student already obtained a visa, and it later comes to light that he espoused or endorsed terrorism? For example, in the case of a foreign student on a college campus protesting in favor of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel. In that case, the State Department can revoke his visa. That means that the Department of Homeland Security can then pursue his removal because, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, he would be deportable for the same reasons the visa was canceled. It also means he can’t return to the U.S. without getting a new visa, which would be very hard, given the revocation on file.

We can expect that under the new Trump administration, more of these foreign students who espoused terrorism on our college campuses will be deported.

But one supporter of terrorism taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and facing the prospect of deportation, Mahmoud Khalil, is a lawful permanent resident, meaning he has a “green card.” Some have claimed that green card holders cannot be deported for supporting terrorism.

“If he’s a green card holder, slam dunk. There’s no way to arrest him,” immigration attorney Naresh M. Gehi told CBS News. “[Khalil] had not been charged with a crime. Or if he’s, you know, if there’s something more than that, really, there’s no way.”

So, is Gehi right, or can ICE deport lawful permanent residents who are not yet citizens for supporting terrorism?

Yes, ICE can.

Section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act lays out numerous grounds that make “any alien” deportable. Terrorist activities are found in section 237(a)(4)(B).

Khalil is a Syrian-born graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. As journalist Eitan Fischberger has documented, Khalil has been a leader of the protests at both Columbia and Barnard College, negotiating with university officials on the protesters’ behalf and serving as the protests’ spokesperson to legacy media outlets and foreign outlets like the Iranian regime’s Quds News Network.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

At the protests Khalil helped lead, protesters chanted genocidal slogans calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews in Israel and violence against Jews worldwide. The protesters handed out pamphlets supporting Hamas and praising the “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” massacre it carried out on Oct. 7, where terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israelis, gang-raped women, and took hundreds of hostages, including babies and elderly Holocaust survivors.

At one protest, Khalil publicly expressed support for “our resistance in Gaza,” which is a common euphemism for Hamas. The term “Hamas” is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya, meaning “The Islamic Resistance Movement.”

The Immigration and Nationality Act is clear: “any alien” may be deported on “security and related grounds” such as “endorsing or espousing” terrorism or “supporting a terrorist organization.” If a judge determines that Khalil has espoused support for groups designated by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations, then he could lose his green card and be deported.

A lawful permanent resident is permitted to stay in the United States indefinitely, so long as he does not become deportable for some unlawful act he committed. A lawful permanent resident is not a citizen or U.S. national and is therefore still a deportable “alien” under federal law. To deport a lawful permanent resident, ICE would have to ask an immigration judge to revoke his green card in removal proceedings.  

You can expect Khalil, backed by the usual left-wing activists like the ACLU, to lawyer up and fight his removal. But given his very public support for Hamas, we wouldn’t suggest betting on his success.

Khalil’s arrest and pending deportation constitute a message from the Trump administration to other foreign nationals: If you support terrorism, you are not welcome here.

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