PCJF Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard’s statement on the unlawful arrest and abduction of Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil:
The Trump Administration is pursuing an unconstitutional witch hunt, abusing government authority in order to target, punish and silence viewpoints that it ideologically opposes. We join millions who condemn the illegal abduction of student activist Mahmoud Khalil by DHS agents on Saturday night and demand he be freed immediately. Mr. Khalil, a green card holder and lawful permanent resident, was arrested by plainclothed agents while returning home with his wife who is eight months pregnant and a U.S citizen. He is being threatened with deportation and has been moved to a detention facility in Louisiana.
The Administration is smearing those who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza or otherwise opposed the US-backed Israeli assault on Palestinians, using false labels of antisemitism and terrorism while it supports racist ethnic cleansing and overt violations of international law established in the wake of World War II to prevent another genocide.
President Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, DHS and other administration officials are engaging in willful violations of fundamental constitutional rights in order to terrorize and disrupt movements for justice in service to an extremist and authoritarian agenda. They seek to bulldoze the First Amendment in order to impose an orthodoxy of thought and belief. The Administration is openly threatening more arrests. All those who believe in free speech and the right to dissent must speak out in support of Mahmoud Khalil and fight back against this dangerous new McCarthyism.