EXTRA: Did we just lose our 1st amendment rights?
Does Trump really want to be a cartel boss?
UPDATE! Justice … one win for the balance of powers.
One of the saddest moments of my time in Mexico happened as I walked through the square in front of the Cathedral in San Cristóbal de las Casas in the highlands of Mexico. The square was full of people and I could feel sadness radiating through the crowd long before I found out that 43 students had been “disappeared.”
Mexico has a long, heart-breaking history of people just disappearing. Some estimates range into the hundreds of thousand. It’s the kind of thing that “can’t possibly happen here in the United States,” … but it just did.
Mahmood Khalil, a lawful permanent resident with a green card. In the fall of 2023 when the Israel/Gaza carnage started playing across the nightly news and all the social media platforms, Mahmood Khalil was a student at Columbia University and part of the student protests.
Protests on college campuses are almost a right of passage. For many young people it is their first experiment with free speech and life in a democracy. We had an encampment here on campus which remained peaceful because the campus administrators set up some ground rules for the protest and then let them vent. I walked through it on morning when the camp was empty and admired their youthful creativity and empathy for a war torn land.
However, Mahmood Khalil was seized and whisked away from his eight-month pregnant wife by the agents (presumably ICE) who were told that Khalil was a legal resident by his lawyer. They took him anyway saying that status was revoked also. I assume he is still alive, perhaps still in the US, but that is not the way people who have complied with all the regulations to be here legally are supposed to be treated.
From AP: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened to deport green card holders involved (emphasis added) in pro-Palestine protests, marking a stark escalation of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on student activists.”
One problem: revoking a visa or green card of a legal resident is a proceeding that can only be done under certain circumstances as they are protected by “due process of law.”
The 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause states that no state can take away a person's life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This protection applies to all people, regardless of race, color, or citizenship.
Green cards, also known as lawful permanent residency, allow people to live, work and travel as a U.S. citizen would. Holding a green card is a major milestone on the path to U.S. citizenship, offering various benefits and stability.
Rebecca Black Immigration Law outlines the circumstances which could, legally, result in the revoking of a green card:
Circumstances which can warrant revocation:
1. Committing Fraud or Misrepresentation During the Application Process
Such as marriage fraud, false documents, or omission of relevant facts.
2. Committing Certain Crimes
Such as aggravated felonies, crimes of moral turpitude, or drug related offenses. Convictions can lead to removal from the U.S.
3. Failing to Maintain Permanent Residence
Such as lengthy absences or lack of intent to maintain a permanent residence.
4. Failure to Notify USCIS of a Change of Address
5. Security-Related Reasons
Such as membership in Terrorist Organizations or Espionage or Treason.
6. Engaging in Immigration Fraud After Obtaining a Green Card
Such as helping others commit immigration fraud or identity theft.
7. Violating the Terms of Conditional Green Cards
Such as failure to file necessary forms or a divorce complication.
8. Becoming Inadmissible Due to Health Reasons that might create a public health risk
Was Mahmood Khalil a “member of Hamas?” No one has even accused him of that.
Was he violent or calling for violence? No, but he did help press Columbia to divest of their investment in Israel.
If a legal resident does not have the right to free speech, do we US citizens have the right to speak freely and protest peacefully? I wanted to know more about first amendment rights so google reminded me:
Then I noticed it said “Congress cannot make laws that …” Befuddled, I asked Perplexity if the president or anyone outside of Congress could arrest someone who said something they didn’t like? Here’s the answer:
No, the President cannot direct officials to arrest people for exercising their First Amendment freedoms simply because he doesn't like them. Such actions would be a clear violation of the Constitution and an abuse of executive power.
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition from government interference. These rights are fundamental to American democracy and cannot be arbitrarily restricted by any government official, including the President.
My final question:
In Mexico, most of the “disappearances” (terminations) are attributed to cartel activity. Now we here in the US have a Secretary of State openly threatening disappearances and, apparently, sanctioning them.
Trump has long admired dictators … now I wonder if what he really wants to be is a cartel boss?
Special thanks to
for prompting this post. He has become one of my favorite information sources and can also be found at Bluesky @fpwellman.bsky.social.Special Notice to Subscribers:
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