As a South Asian American – often dubbed the “privileged” minority – I have felt safe from most negative current events. I always felt some combination of my American citizenship, ability to pursue higher education, and close ties to my family would protect me from any physical, moral or financial threat. The detention of Mahmoud Khalil has shaken that belief.
I encourage readers to read his letters from detention, as well as actual news sources regarding the extent of his participation in protests, but let me emphasize a few key points. Mahmoud Khalil protested peacefully for a ceasefire in Gaza to protect Palestinian lives. He also has stated the futures of Israelis and Palestinians are intertwined – a belief completely at odds with Hamas’s beliefs.
Yet the entire Trump administration claims, without evidence, that he is affiliated with Hamas. There are numerous examples of press conferences and interviews where they avoid answering questions about what evidence exists.
Therefore, we can conclude the Trump administration detained this permanent resident because of his views. At least a few Trump administration officials have admitted as much. I encourage you all to read the content of the First Amendment as you consider what I have just said.
I wish there were nuances to what I just said. I wish there was some way Mr. Khalil could perhaps be portrayed as a dangerous individual, and I wish the U.S. government had evidence of that, because it would mean America is still a fully functioning and free, albeit imperfect democracy. It is not.
Detaining a permanent resident for the offense of disagreeing with the government is severely immoral. Even Bill Maher – infamous for his inability to distinguish between Hamas and Palestinian civilians – said on his show that you cannot detain Khalil for his speech alone.
While Maher made multiple false claims about Khalil, he went on to say Khalil’s detention based on his peaceful protest is wrong. Thus, even if you falsely believe Khalil is a terrorist sympathizer, or for some reason believe the civilian death toll in Gaza is somehow justified in rooting out Hamas, you must recognize his right to free speech.
As the Israeli Defense Force continues its campaign of violence, killing/detaining Palestinian civilians (including journalists and Oscar winners) without due process or just cause while protecting Israeli settlers who commit unprovoked acts of violence, Khalil’s message becomes more important. It raises the question of why the administration views Khalil’s speech as a threat.
Is the preservation of civilian lives at odds with the Trump administration’s goals? Although I dislike the administration, Steve Witkoff played a key role in negotiating the recent ceasefire. Although the administration’s motives are questionable, suddenly arresting a permanent resident who wished for that exact thing seems odd.
I hate to throw around the word “racist,” because many media pundits have made an effort to delegitimize the word to limit its use, but I struggle to find an alternative explanation. Trump has had a weird fixation with Arab Muslims for quite some time now, even though they, just like illegal immigrants, are far from the biggest per capita sources of violence in America.
Although some of the illegal detentions are more explicitly political, Khalil’s is not so easily explained away. Either the officials of the Trump administration are too stupid to realize Khalil has advocated for the exact thing they temporarily helped accomplish, or they are detaining him because he is a convenient target of the wrong ethnicity or religion, and his detention will score Trump political points with his base and the Israeli far right.
A country that does such things cannot claim to be a truly free democratic republic.
