Letter to the editor from (*See list below)
Lindy Urso’s letter to the editor (URSO: Arrest of Lawful Permanent Resident is Assault on 1st Amendment on March 16, 2025) regarding Mahmoud Khalil left out many relevant facts about the Trump Administration’s deportation decision.
Moreover, Zionism is deeply intertwined with Jewish identity, and his antisemitic tirade is offensive to the Jewish community and many in the greater Greenwich community as well.
We would first like to emphasize that Israel is a close ally of the United States, with shared democratic values and shared intelligence. Trump is, in fact, putting America first by supporting Israel. Additionally, with the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, Trump is supporting Jewish Americans who have experienced an unprecedented rise in antisemitism since October 7, 2023. In particular, Jewish students and faculty at Columbia have been subjected to unconscionable harassment, intimidation, property destruction, and physical violence due to the actions of Mahmoud Khalil.
It appears that Urso did not spend a great deal of time understanding the rationale for Khalil’s deportation, so let’s delve into the details.
It is a felony under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 373) to intentionally “solicit, command, induce, or otherwise endeavor to persuade” another person to engage in a crime of violence against a person or property. As the spokesperson and chief negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), Khalil encouraged students to fight for the Palestinian cause “by any means necessary,” which ultimately led to not only illegal protests but felony level property destruction, assaults on Jewish students and others, and four Columbia facilities employees being held hostage when protestors stormed and occupied a building on the campus in April of last year. Although there is a great deal of evidence that Khalil has violated federal law, he has not yet been convicted of a crime. If deportation fails based on the legal process delineated below, Khalil can be prosecuted for criminal solicitation, and, once convicted, he can be deported.
Many argue that Khalil is entitled to due process prior to his deportation. That might be how a judge ultimately rules. However, here, deportation is being pursued because the Trump administration believes he endangers public safety and national security, deportable offenses under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Furthermore, conviction of crime is not a prerequisite for deportation under this Section (8 U.S.C. § 1227).
Through CUAD, Khalil has spoken and acted as a Hamas surrogate. Hamas is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States government. According to the Canary Mission:
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Police found weapons and antisemitic propaganda at the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia in April 2024, at which Khalil acted as lead negotiator on behalf of CUAD, which represents approximately 80 student groups at Columbia.
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On October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, Khalil led a CUAD-organized, pro-Hamas protest at Columbia that CUAD subsequently described as an effort to “bring the war home,” reflecting its broader strategy of bringing about the downfall of the United States.
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On March 5, 2025, Khalil helped organize an occupation of the library lobby at Barnard College by pro-Hamas agitators. During the protest, CUAD activists reportedly shared “DEATH TO AMERICA” posters and wrote the same message on the library’s guest book. Ultimately, the police were sent to the location citing a bomb threat.
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Khalil stated in a CUAD video posed on X, “We’ve tried armed resistance, which is legitimate under international law, but Israel calls it terrorism.”
Based on the conduct described above, it is clear that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe that Khalil’s presence and activities “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” the standard for deportation under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(C)(i)). And that is putting America first.
Elise Abbruzzese – Greenwich
Whitney Chernoff – Greenwich
Bonnie Citron – Greenwich
Claudine Cohen – Greenwich
Romy Cohen – Greenwich
Rebecca Cooper – Greenwich
Hilary Daniels – Greenwich
Joui Hessel – Greenwich
Meredith Isacoff – Greenwich
Pamela Ellison – Greenwich
Lindsey Kupferman Levine – Greenwich
Randi Levy – Greenwich
Dina Lunder – Greenwich
Amanda Miller – Greenwich
Sheila Neilinger – Greenwich
Yael Rosen – Greenwich
Karen Ross – Stamford
Rachel Rimsky Rubin – Greenwich
Adrienne Schamberg – Greenwich
Jane Weitzman – Greenwich