A crowd gathered outside of Tulsa City Hall yesterday to protest the looming deportation of a permanent legal U.S. resident.
Syrian-born Mahmoud Khalil holds a green card, according to his attorney, but was targeted for leading pro-Palestine demonstrations at Columbia University. Tulsa protestor Sophia Rehman is a college student too but says she won’t be cowed.
“I’m not afraid. I believe doing what is just and right and taking action, taking smart action, in order to further a cause you believe in is more important than anything,” said Rehman.
President Donald Trump’s administration says Khalil distributed anti-Semitic propaganda on behalf of Hamas, a group that attacked Israel on Oct.7, 2023. The ensuing war saw more than 50,000 lives lost with most of the death occurring in Gaza.
At a press conference, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Khalil distributed flyers with “the logo of Hamas.”
“I have those flyers on my desk. They were provided to me by the Department of Homeland Security. I thought about bringing them into this briefing room to share with all of you, but I didn’t think it was worth the dignity of this room to bring that pro-Hamas propaganda,” said Leavitt.
DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar also couldn’t provide specific details to NPR about what Khalil did and wouldn't acknowledge the former student's green card. Khalil is married to an American citizen who’s currently eight months pregnant.
Tulsa protestor David Blatt, who’s Jewish, didn’t give Trump’s claims about anti-Semitic propaganda much weight.
"It has been very worrisome to see the administration weaponize anti-Semitism as a way to go after student activists, to go after university protests and other groups they don’t like. I just wanted to come out today and say at least some members of the Jewish community of Tulsa don’t support what the administration is doing here,” said Blatt.
Khalil remains in ICE detention in Louisiana. A judge has ordered a stay on his deportation pending legal challenges.
