Becoming Persona Non Grata

The United States offers foreign nationals numerous uncomplicated pathways for lawful entry and extended residency. While these foreigners reside in the United States, they receive all of its benefits, ones which are typically unavailable or denied in their home countries: fundamental rights such as free speech, local benefits like a police department (comprised of police officers who neither accept bribes nor participate in organized crime).

The deportation proceedings of Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who played a major role in the anti-Israel protests and encampments at Columbia University, illustrate the betrayal and parasitism of certain foreign nationals who enter the United States and exploit and abuse its benefits and privileges to tear our nation apart from the inside.

If you have read the stories in the mainstream media about Khalil's deportation, you may have observed an overwhelming amount of sympathy from former coworkers, demonstrators, educators, immigration advocates and others, all expressing their deep sorrow regarding the deportation of a man who is expecting a child with his U.S. citizen wife.

Spare me the tears. Let's cut through the deliberate, calculated distractions and confront the dirty truth. Khalil is not who the mainstream media makes him out to be.

Khalil, commonly labeled a "Palestinian refugee," is not a Palestinian refugee at all. He is Palestinian, yet the media's doublespeak clearly aims to portray him as having escaped the purported terrors of Israel, something many activists have clearly bought into.

The reality is that he was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria in 1995 and resided there until his family escaped to Lebanon in 2012, after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. In Lebanon, he obtained a degree in computer science from the Lebanese American University in Beirut and thereafter began employment at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at the British embassy in Beirut. He then pursued a master's degree in public administration at Columbia University, beginning in 2022. There is no information available that proves he has actually ever lived in -- or even visited -- Palestine.

Between June and November 2023, Khalil was employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the notorious UN agency that allegedly had individuals who facilitated and supported Hamas during the Oct. 7 assaults embedded in its ranks. The infamous attacks on Israel began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Khalil was employed as a UNRWA political affairs officer.

Now let's be clear: Had Khalil participated in organized protest and encampment -- or, to be blunt, riot -- in any of the nations he previously lived in, he would be in a cold prison cell, six feet underground or lying dead on the street, riddled with bullet holes. His behavior is not tolerated to any extent in most Middle Eastern countries. Thank God we live in a country with due process and free speech rights.

But Khalil abused his rights, which are not absolute. He treaded too deep into the waters of illegality, and now he is facing the repercussions.

Educators, students, government representatives and others advocating for his release are participating in disgraceful conduct. Khalil was awarded a green card to enroll at one of the most prestigious universities in one of the greatest cities within the greatest nation in the world, a country where opportunity -- not bullets or bombs -- is found around every corner.

The U.S. government granted him the privilege of living here. And what did he do with that privilege? He turned the tables on the government that gave him an opportunity people around the world have risked life and limb for and orchestrated an encampment on Columbia University's campus, where Jewish students faced hostility and, according to the Department of Homeland Security, where "pro-Hamas propaganda, flyers with the logo of Hamas" were distributed and pro-Hamas slogans were chanted.

He spit in the faces of every foreign soul who braved death, crossing unforgiving lands and treacherous waters, some never making it, all for the chance to stand on this soil, yet there are even Americans who stand by his side.

Khalil's attorneys contend that he has not been charged with a crime, which is necessary for deportation. They contend that he is being singled out for his speech-related activities. Khalil is fortunate to have not been charged with a crime. Because if he was, the government would charge him with a crime related to supporting terrorism. All things considered, he should be thankful the government hasn't taken it that far -- yet.

It is simple: Substitute the dissemination of Hamas slogans and flyers with ISIS ones. Doesn't sound so First Amendment-protected now, does it? And federal prosecutors would find it quite simple to put together a case, convict him and either deport him or throw him in a hole where he'll spend the rest of his life.

Things could be much worse for him. Let's just say that. He crossed a line, and now he must face the consequences of his actions.

This also coincides with Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelling the South African ambassador to the United States in person, declaring him "persona non grata" due to the disgusting rhetoric and accusations he directed against the United States and our president.

Again, you can do this in no other country but the United States. But we will tolerate it to the death.

The Trump administration is making it abundantly clear: Do not endorse or support terrorism. Do not burn down cities. Do not exploit the nation that has provided you with everything. President Donald Trump will not tolerate America being torn apart from the inside by people who were given the privilege of being here by our own government.

========

Armstrong Williams is manager/sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast owner of the year. To find out more about him and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.