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u.s. department of homeland security
DHS Official Explicitly Equates Protest to Terrorism in 'Stunning' Interview
"This is one of the most chilling things I've heard a senior U.S. official say."
Mar 13, 2025
In an interview with one of the top officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, NPR's Michel Martin sought to gain clarity about the agency's reasoning for arresting former Columbia University student organizer Mahmoud Khalil last week—but Troy Edgar provided no supporting evidence of specific offenses committed by Khalil, who has not been charged with a crime, and suggested his mere participation in "pro-Palestinian activity" was sufficient to order his deportation.
Edgar, the deputy homeland security secretary, repeatedly alleged that Khalil was in the U.S. on a visa, despite Martin correcting him and clarifying that the Algerian citizen is a legal permanent resident of the country with a green card—until it was reportedly revoked under the Trump administration's "catch and revoke" program targeting international students who protest the government's pro-Israel policy.
The Trump administration has accused Khalil, who is of Palestinian descent, of leading "activities aligned to Hamas" and protests where pro-Hamas propaganda was distributed, but officials have provided no evidence that he's provided support to Hamas or other groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
A White House official this week toldThe Free Press that Khalil is not being accused of breaking any laws, but is rather "a threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States," and Edgar's comments to Martin offered further evidence evidence that DHS is working to deport Khalil without accusing him of a crime.
"He is coming in to basically be a student that is not going to be supporting terrorism," said Edgar. "So, the issue is he was let into the country on this visa. He has been promoting this antisemitism activity at the university. And at this point, the State Department has revoked his visa for supporting a terrorist type organization."
But Edgar was unable to point to specific "terrorist activity" that Khalil was supporting when he helped lead Palestinian solidarity protests at Columbia, where students occupied a building and displayed a banner labeling it Hind's Hall in honor of a six-year-old girl who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and negotiated with administrators to end the school's investment in companies that benefit from Israel's policies in Palestine.
"How did he support Hamas? Exactly what did he do?" Martin pressed.
"Well, I think you can see it on TV, right?" Edgar replied. "This is somebody that we've invited and allowed the student to come into the country, and he's put himself in the middle of the process of basically pro-Palestinian activity."
Martin then repeatedly asked whether criticism of the U.S. government, which is the largest international funder of the Israeli military and has backed its assault on Gaza, and protesting are deportable offenses.
"Let me put it this way, Michel, imagine if he came in and filled out the form and said, 'I want a student visa.' They asked him, 'What are you going to do here?' And he says, 'I'm going to go and protest.' We would have never let him into the country," said Edgar. "I think if he would have declared he's a terrorist, we would have never let him in."
Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), called the interview "stunning" and said Edgar's "conflation of protest and terrorism stopped me cold."
The interview, said Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid, serves as the latest confirmation from the Trump administration that "Mahmoud Khalil's arrest has no basis."
The interview was released the same day that more than 100 people were arrested at a sit-in led by Jewish Voice of Peace at Trump Tower in New York City, demanding Khalil's release. His arrest has sparked outcry from progressives in Congress, local lawmakers including New York mayoral candidate and state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, legal experts, and the human rights group Amnesty International.
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ICE Arrests Palestinian Green Card Holder Who Helped Lead Columbia's Gaza Solidarity Camp
"The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil—a green card holder whose wife is eight months pregnant—is a blatant assault on the First Amendment and a sign of advancing authoritarianism under Trump," said one critic.
Mar 10, 2025
Federal agents on Saturday arrested a prominent Palestinian activist and permanent U.S. resident who says the arresting officers told him his green card had been revoked.
Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, who is eight months pregnant, were returning home at around 8:30 pm Saturday when plainclothes Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents "pushed in behind them," advocates for Khalil
toldZeteo's Prem Thakker. Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents also threatened to arrest his wife.
Last week, the U.S. State Department announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered "catch and revoke" program to cancel the visas of international students deemed supportive of Hamas. This, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January authorizing the deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza.
"Clearly Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda fighting and attacking higher education and the Ivy League education system," Khalil toldReuters Saturday before his arrest.
Thakker reported:
The agents claimed that the State Department had revoked Khalil's student visa, with one agent presenting what he claimed was a warrant on his cell phone. But Khalil, according to advocates, has a green card. Khalil's wife went to their apartment to get the green card.
"He has a green card," an agent apparently said on the phone, confused by the matter. But then after a moment, the agent claimed that the State Department had "revoked that too."
Experts said that revoking a green card is very rare and typically only occurs when a permanent resident has committed a serious crime, engages in immigration fraud, or clearly demonstrates intent to abandon their status.
"This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didn't like," Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of New York legal service providers, toldHuffpost.
Khalil graduated in December with a master's degree from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. He was also a lead negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest during the April 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which drew international attention as Israeli forces killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and annihilated much of their homeland. Khalil was briefly suspended last spring for his protest activities.
Elora Mukherjee, director of the immigrants' rights clinic at Columbia Law School, toldThe New York Times that if the Trump administration revoked Khalil's green card "in retaliation for his public speech, that is prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said late Sunday that Khalil was arrested "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism."
"Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization," McLaughlin added. "ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump's executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security."
However, Greer said that "we will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud's rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable—and calculated—wrong committed against him."
Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement that "this blatantly unconstitutional act sends a deplorable message that freedom of speech is no longer protected in America."
The Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, which represents more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate student workers, urged Columbia staff and students to oppose the school's "cooperation with the Trump administration."
“By allowing ICE on campus, Columbia is surrendering to the Trump administration's assault on universities across the country and sacrificing international students to protect its finances," the union said in a statement.
Last week, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, claiming the school—which cracked down hard on Gaza protesters—hasn't done enough to combat antisemitism.
The Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) coalition noted that "Columbia University has published guidance on how best to collaborate with federal enforcement, including advising faculty and staff 'not to interfere' with ICE agents even if those agents are unable to present a warrant."
"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible."
"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible," WAWOG argued.
"A Palestinian student and member of the community has been abducted and detained without the physical demonstration of a warrant or officially filed charges," the coalition continued. "Like many other Arab and Muslim students, Khalil has been the target of various Zionist harassment campaigns, fueled by doxxing websites like Canary Mission."
"This racist targeting serves to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others," WAWOG added.
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'Dangerous Union-Busting': Trump Rescinds Collective Bargaining for Air Safety Union
"Let's be clear: This is the beginning, not the end, of the fight for Americans' fundamental rights to join a union," said one labor leader.
Mar 08, 2025
Labor advocates condemned Friday's announcement by the Trump administration that it will end collective bargaining for Transportation Safety Administration security officers, a move described by one union leader as an act of "dangerous union-busting ripped from the pages of Project 2025."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed in a statement Friday that collective bargaining for the TSA's security officers "constrained" the agency's chief mission of protecting transportation systems and keeping travelers safe, and that "eliminating collective bargaining removes bureaucratic hurdles that will strengthen workforce agility, enhance productivity and resiliency, while also jumpstarting innovation."
All the union leaders who supported Trump (like Sean O'Brien) should have to answer some painful questions about Trump rescinding collective bargaining rights for TSA agents.
[image or embed]
— Mike Nellis (@mikenellis.bsky.social) March 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
As Huffpost labor reporter Dave Jamieson explained:
Workers at TSA, which Congress created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, do not enjoy the same union rights as employees at most other federal agencies. Bargaining rights can essentially be extended or rescinded at the will of the administrator.
Those rights were introduced at TSA by former President Barack Obama and strengthened under former President Joe Biden. But now they are being tossed aside by Trump.
"Forty-seven thousands transportation security officers show up at over 400 airports across the country every single day to make sure our skies are safe for air travel," Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in response to DHS announcement. "Many of them are veterans who went from serving their country in the armed forces to wearing a second uniform protecting the homeland and ensuring another terrorist attack like September 11 never happens again."
Kelley argued that President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "have violated these patriotic Americans' right to join a union in an unprovoked attack."
"They gave as a justification a completely fabricated claim about union officials—making clear this action has nothing to do with efficiency, safety, or homeland security," he said "This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union."
AFGE—which represents TSA security officers—has filed numerous lawsuits in a bid to thwart Trump administration efforts, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, to terminate thousands of federal workers and unilaterally shut down government agencies under the guise of improving outcomes.
"This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union."
"Our union has been out in front challenging this administration's unlawful actions targeting federal workers, both in the legal courts and in the court of public opinion," Kelley noted. "Now our TSA officers are paying the price with this clearly retaliatory action."
"Let's be clear: This is the beginning, not the end, of the fight for Americans' fundamental rights to join a union," Kelley stressed. "AFGE will not rest until the basic dignity and rights of the workers at TSA are acknowledged by the government once again."
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement: "TSA officers are the front-line defense at America's airports for the millions of families who travel by air each year. Canceling the collective bargaining agreement between TSA and its security officer workforce is dangerous union-busting ripped from the pages of Project 2025 that leaves the 47,000 officers who protect us without a voice."
"Through a union, TSA officers are empowered to improve work conditions and make air travel safer for passengers," Shuler added. "With this sweeping, illegal directive, the Trump administration is retaliating against unions for challenging its unlawful Department of Government Efficiency actions against America's federal workers in court."
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