Mahmoud Khalil case 'not about free speech': Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio knocked the notion that Mahmoud Khalil’s federal court case is about First Amendment rights but rather his legal standing to remain in the U.S. after he led pro-Palestinian demonstrations. 

“This is not about free speech. This is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with,” Rubio said during a Wednesday briefing with reporters.

“No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card,” he added.

Khalil’s detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has drawn widespread attention and objections from lawmakers who claim he was illegally arrested. 

The former Columbia University student is a green card holder who helped organize campus protests against Israel in support of Palestine. 

Rubio told reporters the country retains the right to deny visas for “virtually any reason.”

“If you tell us, when you apply, 'Hi, I'm trying to get into the United States on a student visa, I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages,' he said. "If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us, when you apply for your visa, and by the way, 'I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, anti-Semitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities,'"

"If you told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa,” Rubio continued. “I hope we would. If you actually end up doing that, once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it.”

Khalil’s legal battle is a test case in the Trump administration’s new approach to crackdown on immigration. The case fulfills a campaign promise made by Trump that he would arrest and deport foreign students who participated in the pro-Palestinian encampments last year.  

A federal judge blocked efforts to deport Khalil, who has not been charged with a crime, in the midst of ongoing court deliberations.