Deporting commie jihadists (03-11-2025--Hour3)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:30] Quick reminder, we've got UNC Tar Heel basketball tomorrow. So my show will be cut short on the radio. I am still playing with the idea of maybe sending out a podcast just on the podcast side of things tomorrow as well, but we'll see how it goes. We'll see how I feel because I was battling some crud over the last 48 hours or so.

[00:00:58] Yeah. So, oh, let's, can we talk about green cards? Have you heard the story of this Palestinian activist that got picked up by immigration? I too actually saw somebody get picked up by immigration. Happened right outside of my house. Right outside my house. Yeah, there was apparently some sort of an operation and they,

[00:01:27] uh, uh, uh, were staking somebody out. Uh, we're staking somebody out and the car, uh, was going right down our side street and he got surrounded. He, uh, tried to flee. This was on Saturday. Saturday. He tried to flee or Sunday, Saturday. Yes. Saturday. He tried to flee. He jumped the sidewalk, tried to cut through somebody's yard. And one of the agents then rammed him, uh, right there next to the house.

[00:01:53] And, uh, yeah, that's crazy. And they took off running. They ran through some neighbor's yard, freaked out their little kids that were in the basement playing and, and then they took them away and they left the car.

[00:02:10] So, yeah, they didn't even search it. They didn't even search the car. Uh, but yeah, kind of surreal to see all of that unfold. But it's, and Chrissy and I talked about it. Like we saw one moment in a series of events, right? That we have no insight on.

[00:02:32] We have no idea who the person was, right? We have no idea how they got onto the radar of the law enforcement. So whatever happened, um, like they obviously devoted a lot of manpower, had like six different vehicles staked out all over the neighborhood and stuff. So, um, and yeah, so it's like, it was just, it was, um, it was surreal to see it happen.

[00:02:59] But again, like we saw the one final moment in that historical record. We don't know what all, I have no idea who the guy was, no idea what he was wanted for or whatever. Um, but the fact that they didn't search the car, I kind of feel like it probably was a deportation type of a situation. But again, don't know what he did to get on their radar, uh, where they would devote those kinds of resources.

[00:03:24] Now I do have a pretty good idea with this guy, Mahmoud Khalil. Yeah. He is a lawful permanent resident alien. Okay. Okay. And he got picked up, um, and now is apparently being held in Louisiana, uh, by immigration.

[00:03:45] He's a green card holder. That's what that means. A lawful permanent resident alien, uh, green card holder who was reportedly born in Syria, but claims Palestinian ancestry.

[00:03:58] He has been a prominent figure in the pro Hamas agitation at Columbia university as late as, as recently as last week, when he reportedly posed as a mediator between the university pro and the protesters. These are the ones that occupied the building at Barnard college, right? I mentioned this last week and nine people got arrested.

[00:04:26] He was not one of them, but the problems at Columbia university, he has been front end center. He has been a sort of de facto spokesperson for, uh, this group called, uh, this group called. See you apartheid divest or Columbia university, apartheid divest, see you a D or quad.

[00:04:54] And when you read what this organization celebrates, when you see what they cheer for, they're communists. And I don't, I'm not just saying that to, you know, throw the word around like who commies this and that, but no, like literally they're communists. Like here's one of their statements.

[00:05:14] Vladimir Lenin said that the working class has no weapon, but organization meeting that only through ideological consolidation and organized action can the conception of collective power. Yes. Yes. Columbia has a, Oh, sorry. Can the masses overcome imperialism? Sorry. I skipped the line there. Our movement has much to learn from his conception of collective power. Yes. Columbia has a multi-billion dollar endowment.

[00:05:42] They have proven they are willing to unleash the state on us in the most grotesque ways, but their use of police signifies their weakness. Namely, that they are unable to squash our movement through peaceful means. Then they quote Mao Zedong.

[00:06:01] Who reminds us, quote, however active the leading group may be, its activity will amount to fruitless effort by a handful of people unless combined with the activity of the masses. On the other hand, if the masses alone are active without a strong leading group to organize their activity properly, such activity cannot be sustained for long or carried forward in the right direction or raised to a high level. End quote. Right.

[00:06:28] So they're literally quoting Lenin and Mao. That's who this organization is. They are also self-identified as Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization, which kind of seems problematic. Right. So why? Why would you let this person into our country?

[00:06:57] Why would you let somebody with these kinds of views into our country? David Harsany, who is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner. He says this is this is the reason for green cards. Green cards exist specifically so we can vet people. Right. To determine if they are worthy of citizenship. Do we want you in our country?

[00:07:24] And if you come into our country and you say that you want to eradicate our country, I'm going to suggest that that's probably not a great candidate for citizenship. You probably shouldn't be allowed to stay if all you're doing is fomenting communist demonstrations and Islamic Jihad. Because that's what he's been doing. That's what this guy has been doing. Mahmoud Khalil.

[00:07:51] And the way that the left is framing his arrest is that and processing for deportation is that, oh, he was simply speaking out and he's being thrown in jail or he's being deported for free speech. No, he he's being deported because he is here with a green card. He was here on a student visa that has now apparently turned into a green card, I guess. And because he's done with school, he graduated.

[00:08:20] So why are you still leading this organization or acting as its spokesperson? Going around threatening Jews on Columbia's campus and calling for the Zionists to be, you know, murdered and stuff like you are fomenting discord. You are like if you are a green card holder, I don't think you get the same protest rights. Yes, I don't.

[00:08:49] I think you're visiting. I think you're a visitor to the country. And if you are doing things to destabilize the society, I think that country has the right to throw you out. That does not seem that does not seem to be, I don't know, a stretch. I understand like there are people making these arguments that, you know, like, for example, what's his name? Greenberg, I think is his name. He writes at Simple Justice. Yeah, I think it's anyway.

[00:09:19] He's like one of the least pleasant aspects of being principled is that you have to defend people whose ideology you find repugnant or idiotic. But that is the test of principle. He says this guy Khalil has been convicted of no crime for his actions. It may be that he has engaged in criminal conduct. If so, then he should be arrested and prosecuted for what he did. And if it can be proven, convicted.

[00:09:45] That's how it works here, or at least how it's supposed to work here. He was not here on a student visa, but was a legal permanent resident. He's married to an American citizen. Not only does he enjoy the same First Amendment rights as an American citizen, but he enjoys the right to due process as well. And so he is being deprived of this, according to the left. And the media, but I repeat myself.

[00:10:15] He is being deprived of due process because he has been leading the tentifada at Columbia University. I feel like, though, that there's a pretty specific thing in the law that if you are promoting foreign terrorist organizations, they can deport you. Yeah, that's in the law. And Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization designated as such.

[00:10:44] Seems pretty, I don't know, due process-y. You know, stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life. And our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video. Started in 1997 in Mint Hill, North Carolina.

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[00:11:36] All told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life. Told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you. They will tell others to come who you are. Visit creativevideo.com. All right. I'll talk to Keith. Hello, Keith. Welcome to the show. Hey, Pete. How's it going, bud? Hey. All right. What's up? I just wanted to talk about the Blue Hair Alphabet Army destroying Elon Musk cars and car dealerships. Yeah.

[00:12:06] I don't think they understand property ownership clearly. If someone destroys Musk's property, he has someone call the insurance company, and then he's covered. At the worst, for him, it's just an inconvenience. Another issue is most car dealerships are independently owned. Some poor guy that's out there trying to do business and make a way in the world, being an independent car dealer, wakes up one morning and half of his stock is destroyed.

[00:12:36] And that has nothing to do with Elon Musk. Right. Well, but, I mean, you're attempting to apply some level of rationality to the behavior. And, you know, we saw during the summer of fiery but mostly peaceful protesting, they don't care about private property and the destruction of it. Right? Right. I understand that. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's true. He doesn't, yeah.

[00:13:02] I mean, think of the guy that owns the local dealership, a franchise owner. And, you know, well, I guess that's his fault because he, you know, thought Elon Musk's products were so good, you know, five years ago and whenever it was when he bought the franchise. And now, you know, fast forward five years and now what? He gets his business attacked because these leftists don't like Elon all of a sudden. Right. It's ridiculous. Yeah. No, it's terrorism.

[00:13:32] I mean, that's what it is. It's the same thing that the EcoHealth Alliance people did. It's the same stuff that the BLM people did. This is part of their playbook. It always has been. Leftists always rely on violence like this. So, Keith, I appreciate the call, sir. Thank you. Yeah, it's the, these are the foot soldiers. Right?

[00:13:55] They want people to be afraid to cross them because they cannot convince you based on their arguments. Right? This is why, you know, they become, I say all the time, unchallenged ideas are easy to hold. They have become intellectually flabby. They cannot defend their ideas. And so when they cannot persuade you to do the thing that they want you to do, they will attempt to, what, censor you.

[00:14:25] They will attempt to shame you, embarrass you, make your life difficult, and then threaten you with violence. Like, that's, this is the playbook. So, we've seen enough examples of it. That's what they've been doing at Columbia University. When Donald Trump came in, he was like, this is stopping.

[00:14:44] And by the way, when you are here on a green card, or you're here on a student visa, you don't get to foment the overthrow of our government. You don't get to endorse terrorist activities. You don't get to endorse or support a terrorist organization. And that's what this guy up in New York has done.

[00:15:13] That's what he did. Khalil, Mahmoud Kamil. Khalil, rather. He supported Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization designated as such by the government, also Hezbollah. So, it's very clear he's also acted as a spokesperson for this organization, Columbia University Apartheid and Divest, CUAD.

[00:15:41] So, you've made the case against yourself very clear. So, this is the Associated Press. Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of anti-Semitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also includes Jewish students and groups. But the protest coalition at times, this is the AP, by the way.

[00:16:09] The protest coalition has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Islamist organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group.

[00:16:20] The U.S. Education Department on Monday warned 60 colleges, including Harvard and Cornell, that they could lose federal money if they fail to uphold civil rights laws against anti-Semitism and ensure uninterrupted access to campus facilities and education opportunities. The Trump administration is already pulling 400 million dollars from Columbia.

[00:16:47] A group of Columbia faculty members expressed concern that Khalil's detention was intended to suppress free speech by students and staff who are not U.S. citizens. No, it's you don't get to come into the country as a guest and then advocate for terrorist organizations. It's literally in the law. Terrorist activities. Inadmissible.

[00:17:17] You're not allowed to be here if you are endorsing or espousing terrorist activity or persuading others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization. Any alien who is described in that paragraph is deportable. Because we don't want you in our country. If you're going to be supporting terrorist organizations, we don't want you. It's very simple. All right.

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[00:18:42] Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University, where he also acted as the spokesperson for CUAD, Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

[00:19:07] These are the ones that ran all of the protests at Columbia University, Barnard College, all of it. Right. And their social media messaging is pretty awful, pretty awful and supportive of terrorism. Talking about if we want to achieve liberation in America, we must be prepared to make the same sacrifices.

[00:19:36] What sacrifices is he talking about? Or is CUAD talking about? Well, they were talking about at least 200 of our comrades in Bangladesh have been martyred in the past two weeks. And they do use the word comrade all the time because they are communists. That's why they keep using the word comrade.

[00:20:01] So they're calling for bloodshed for the martyrdom of Americans and such in order to overthrow the Western civilization. This is what they explicitly say. We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization. Okay. So they are here to destabilize. He is here to destabilize. That is the point. But he should be allowed to say it.

[00:20:30] He has freedom of speech. Does he? But does he? What's the point of running a green card system or student visa system? Right. If you can, if anybody can get it and anybody can then once they arrive here can engage in whatever they want to engage in because he is engaging in illegal behavior. Deportable behavior.

[00:20:59] Now, there's one write up. Ilya Soman, who says a standard response. About whether this should be unconstitutional from a policy perspective is that even if non-citizens have a right to free speech, they don't have a constitutional right to stay in the United States. Thus, deporting them for their speech doesn't violate the Constitution.

[00:21:25] But in virtually every other context, it is clear that depriving people of a right as punishment for their speech violates the First Amendment, even if the right they lose does not itself have constitutional status. In other words, it's sort of like daisy chaining, if you will. Like, okay, so we're not going to say that you can't say that. We're just going to deport you if you do say that.

[00:21:49] And see, so it's we created this little this little half step that we can get to. And then that's not a violation of your constitutional rights. Do you have as a foreigner? Do you have all constitutional rights as American citizens? So. So. Um.

[00:22:11] It remains unclear whether Khalil engaged in either criminal activities or activities that violated. Uh. 1182 A3. That's the section of this law. And I actually have. Actually, I have it here. I will tell you what it is. Um. Terrorist activities.

[00:22:30] Any alien who endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization. And he does. He has. He's done all of that. And so that's deportable. But I guess the left really wants this guy to be their poster child for free speech, I guess.

[00:23:01] Like this is the guy you're going to rally around. They already are. They're rallying around him. The. Is it House. Uh. Judiciary Democrats. Um. Yeah. They said. Uh. Just to recap. This is what they said on Twitter. These are this. Or sorry. The Senate Judiciary. Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. So think. Adam Schiff. Four brains. Just to recap.

[00:23:31] Mahmoud Khalil exercises his First Amendment rights. But Donald Trump and Marco Rubio didn't agree with what he said. That's not a matter of agreeing with what he said. It's a matter of fomenting violence and. And supporting designated terrorist organizations. That's what they have done. And if you can't see. That. The United States has an interest in preventing.

[00:23:59] People from other countries coming into America. And trying to overthrow and destabilize the society here. Then. What is the point of having any rules whatsoever. There should be none. Right. No rules. For anybody coming in. No screening. Why bother. Just let everybody come. Just open up. Oh well. I guess they. Actually did. Promote that kind of a policy. That is true. Mark Goldfeder.

[00:24:29] On. On Twitter. Responded. He is the director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center. He says. The Immigration and Nationality Act. Contains a number of activities for which a person can be deemed ineligible. Based on security and related grounds. There are nine grounds related to terrorism. Most of the nine are not controversial at all. People engaging in terrorism. Etc. The one that has the left all indignant. Is. Ground number.

[00:24:59] Seven. Any alien. Who endorses or espouses terrorist activity. Or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity. Or supports a terrorist organization. You say. Democrats. You are concerned. That this ground would violate the First Amendment rights of somebody like Mahmoud Khalil. Let's examine that. First. Let us be clear. You're not arguing that he has not endorsed or supported terror. I say this because.

[00:25:26] If only you expressed any concern about the people he has been terrifying over a year. Right. Maybe I would have some sympathy for your crocodile tears now. But you didn't. So I don't. So the question becomes. Are his First Amendment rights. The exact same. As an American citizen's. First Amendment rights. The answer may surprise you. Not exactly. But it doesn't matter.

[00:25:52] At least some First Amendment protections do apply differently to aliens than they do to citizens. And there's case law about it. Citizens United, for example. Quote. The government routinely places special restrictions on the speech rights of students, prisoners, members of the armed forces, foreigners, and its own employees.

[00:26:13] When such restrictions are justified by a legitimate governmental interest, they do not necessarily raise constitutional problems. And so what would be a legitimate governmental interest here? National security. That's your governmental interest. And Marco Rubio, as Secretary of State, can make this determination. But now all the Democrats that voted for these laws to be implemented in the first place.

[00:26:42] Now we are supposed to believe that they disagree with all these laws that they voted for implementing. Here's a great idea.

[00:27:18] Yep. The public. The public. The public.

[00:27:47] spot for you for any occasion. And they have pet-friendly accommodations. Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Final segment of the program here. Thanks a lot for hanging out. I appreciate it. Battling, I don't even know what it is, some allergies or crud or whatever it is. But I appreciate you bearing with me.

[00:28:18] Through the program. Again, tomorrow, Tar Heel basketball will preempt this show at 1.30. So we will do half the show tomorrow, a mere 90 minutes. And then the Tar Heels will take over the airwaves here. And then Brett Winterbull will do an hour and a half on the back end of his show. So the first three hours or so of his program will be preempted also. And then if the Tar Heels win, same thing on Thursday.

[00:28:47] If they lose, then we're back on full shows on Thursday. So Andrew McCarthy over at National Review did a write-up on this Mahmoud Khalil story. This has now become the cause de celeb. The left needs a martyr here. And this Hamas Holey mouthpiece is going to be their guy.

[00:29:12] I don't know why they insist on picking the worst people to be their spokespeople. But it's what they do. Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident alien. Right? Reportedly born in Syria, but claims Palestinian ancestry. Khalil has been a prominent figure in the pro-Hamas agitation at Colombia.

[00:29:37] The familiar array of Islamist organizations and their media and Democratic Party allies is rallying to Khalil's defense. The agitators apologists contend that his arrest and the government's plan to deport him are illegal. A lawyer for Khalil has filed a suit in Manhattan Federal Court, the Southern District of New York. Because, of course. To try to block deportation and compel his release.

[00:30:06] Khalil's allies are concerned about reports that although he was arrested in Manhattan, where he was living, the Trump Homeland Security Department had already whisked him to a holding facility in Louisiana, perhaps hoping to deport him before the courts can intervene. Or at least to try to litigate any lawsuits in a district that the Trump administration hopes will be a little bit more friendlier to the administration than the Southern District of New York.

[00:30:32] Now, today, the judge, Jesse Furman, ordered the Trump administration not to remove Khalil from the United States. At least until the court can weigh in. This was done to preserve jurisdiction over Khalil in the Southern District of New York, even if the administration moves him elsewhere. So then McCarthy looks at the arguments.

[00:31:01] He notes provision 1227. In general, it says this in general, an alien whose presence or activities in the United States, the secretary of state has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.

[00:31:22] OK, so if the secretary of state has reasonable grounds to believe that there are serious, potential serious adverse foreign policy consequences for a person's presence in America, then the secretary of state can have him deported. And this is why you're probably hearing Marco Rubio's name thrown around in this story, because that's the route that apparently they're they're looking to take.

[00:31:51] That's one route. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the executive branch has broad discretion when it comes to national security judgments about which aliens may be admitted and which should be expelled from the United States. Nevertheless, because this section says the secretary of state has to have reasonable grounds to believe their presence would cause serious consequences.

[00:32:16] The lawyers for this guy, Khalil, are going to argue that the court has authority to review whether Senator Secretary Rubio's judgment is or is not, quote unquote, reasonable. So that's one section, 1227 or there's there's the other section, 1182, which I already read from, which seems like that's a more solid argument to be made. So we shall see. We shall see.

[00:32:47] All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to the Pete calendar show dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.