Democratic lawmakers call to free Mahmoud Khalil from ICE captivity, accusing the Trump Administration of violating the First Amendment.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I am a true believer that joy is an act of resistance, which is why you're here today.
00:24We are joyfully and clear and grounded of why we're here.
00:30We know that justice can never wait.
00:35And so I want to first start by letting you know that my name is Congresswoman Delia Catalina
00:40Ramirez, and we are here today because we have a mission to uphold our shared humanity,
00:47our duty to fight for our civil rights, and the responsibility to stand up for the people
00:52of Illinois' third congressional district and every single district represented here
00:57and the entire country, making sure that we are clear that no wannabe dictators can ever
01:03silence us, and we will continue to speak up always for justice.
01:07It is why we are here today, and we are saying loudly that that Capitol and every house building
01:14here is a free Mahmoud Khalil.
01:20And it is clear that Mahmoud is a dedicated father, a husband, a friend, a student, and
01:25a community leader.
01:26He is loved and respected by many.
01:28He deserves to be home with his wife, preparing for the arrival of his child.
01:34But let's put aside that for a moment.
01:37Mahmoud is also a resident of the United States of America, a legal permanent resident, and
01:42as such, he is protected by our Constitution and afforded the right to free speech and
01:48due process.
01:49If that is true, not about who he is, but about who we are, or at least who we're supposed
01:55to be, that makes what we are seeing happen right now in front of our eyes chilling.
02:01We are a nation that passionately defends our basic constitutional rights of free speech
02:06and due process, and those rights are essential to who we are and how we sustain a democracy
02:12and resist wannabe dictators.
02:15It is why we know that we must continue to speak up, and we continue to be able to demonstrate
02:21dissent in the time of injustice.
02:24But Donald Trump and his loyalists are waging war on our rights and using an authoritarian
02:28playbook to punish resistance and silence those who would dare to dissent.
02:34And they may try to make an example of Mahmoud Khalil, but they are not stopping with him.
02:38In detaining immigration advocates like Jeanette Vizquerra, Trump and Republicans are looking
02:43to silence every single voice from every corner of our movement that stands against them,
02:50the racist white nationalist agenda.
02:53And so we must see the connections between their actions and expose them for what they
02:57are, their actions of an authoritarian.
03:01Trump will continue challenging and eroding each of our constitutionally protected rights
03:05in his pursuit of power.
03:06They've come for immigrants, they've come for Palestinian voices, and they will come
03:10for anyone who dares to uphold our shared humanity and challenge this agenda.
03:15So every time they come for us, folks, we must rise up.
03:19Every time they try to knock us down and make an example of us, we must stand against it.
03:24We must not be silent to protect our constitutional rights, to protect each other, to protect
03:30our multiracial, multicultural democracy.
03:33And it is why today we are standing here on this Tuesday to say that we demand that Mahmoud
03:41Khalil be free.
03:42We demand justice for him, and we demand it right now.
03:46With us today is a number of leaders from all over the country, but also some of my
03:51colleagues that work for justice every single day in these halls of Congress.
03:55Help me welcome Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.
04:03Thank you all so much for being here.
04:04I know that Mahmoud Khalil right now is a political prisoner.
04:08We are demanding his release, of course, today.
04:11Mahmoud was kidnapped from his home by government agents and illegally disappeared to a detention
04:17facility in Louisiana.
04:19We know that that's thousands of miles away from his wife.
04:22They're expecting their first child.
04:24But as his wife, Noor, would say, she's more than just an eight-month pregnant woman.
04:28She's also just a human being that watched, again, her love, her husband being ripped
04:34away from her in front of her with no, if you saw the video, it was horrifying to watch,
04:38so incredibly helpless.
04:39You know, there was no due process, no criminal charges, no demonstration of a warrant, no
04:45information on where he was being held for days.
04:48Let's be clear.
04:49Mahmoud's rights are our rights.
04:51In the United States of America, no matter your immigration status, no matter, again,
04:57who you are, you have constitutional rights in our country.
05:00The detention and threatened deportation of Mahmoud is illegal and is a direct assault
05:05on our constitutional rights to due process, freedom of speech, a right to protest, and
05:10on dissent itself.
05:12Dissent is a fundamental American value.
05:16This is a moment that should alarm all of us.
05:19If we do not stand up and fight for Mahmoud's freedom today, the unlawless Trump administration
05:25will come for us all.
05:27All of our rights are under attack at this moment, but Mahmoud knows that the Israeli
05:32government imprisons Palestinians without charge or trial every single day, just like
05:37what our government just did to Mahmoud.
05:41As Mahmoud himself said in this powerful letter from ICE detention, he was targeted for exercising
05:47his right to freedom of speech, to advocate for a free Palestine, and end Israel's occupation
05:54and apartheid and genocide in Gaza.
05:57The Trump administration proudly admits that this has threatened, admits this clearly,
06:04and threatened to do more arrests.
06:06We are already seeing other students, and Congresswoman Ramirez talked about that, scholars
06:11are being targeted.
06:12You know, I heard another day, another professor, another professor, another student, and it's
06:18unfortunate some of these universities are helping the Trump administration.
06:23You know, including right here, we saw a person, again, being targeted and detained here in
06:30D.C. at Georgetown.
06:33These attacks are an attempt to silence the growing movement for human rights for Palestinians.
06:38They want us to be silent as the Israeli government continues its genocide, wiping
06:42out entire generations of Palestinian families, dropping American bombs on hospitals, and
06:47dismembering children over and over again.
06:52They want us to be silent as Trump sends Netanyahu another $12.5 billion in new weapons to ethnically
06:58cleanse Palestinians.
07:01I know Mahmoud has called students, on students and advocates and elected officials like us
07:06to unite and defend the right to protest for Palestine, and that's exactly what we're
07:11here to do.
07:12You don't have to agree everything that Mahmoud is saying, but you have to agree that the
07:17one thing that we understand is the freedom of speech and our constitutional rights, and
07:22we're here to say that we will not be silent.
07:25Free Mahmoud Khalil, and as the only Palestinian-American serving in this Congress, I must always say,
07:31free Palestine.
07:33With that, I'm going to have my amazing colleague, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, and let me
07:39tell you, she's been an incredible mentor in this fight.
07:43You know, she knows it's not just about freedom of speech when it comes to the issue of full
07:46esteem.
07:47We know it's also about immigrant rights.
07:49It's also about us fighting against the corporate greed that has infiltrated our government
07:53already with billionaires making decisions about Medicaid and Social Security.
07:58And so, I'm just really pleased and so incredibly grateful that she's on the Judiciary Committee.
08:04Her leadership is needed at this moment.
08:06With that, Pramila.
08:10Thank you so much, Congresswoman Tlaib, for your incredible courage, your voice, your
08:15leadership.
08:16Thank you, Congresswoman Ramirez, and all of the people who are here and across the
08:22country who are speaking out on this issue.
08:25I want to be very clear.
08:27What the Trump administration is doing to Mahmoud Khalil is unconstitutional.
08:34Full stop.
08:35It is also the beginning of a chilling war on the free speech rights of every single
08:40person in America, and Trump's mass deportation plans are the beginning of this war.
08:46Let me also be clear that the fundamental First Amendment right to free speech means
08:51that no matter how you feel about any particular issue, no one, not the President of the United
08:58States, not campus administrators, not regular people, has the right to stop you from protesting
09:05and speaking your mind on any particular issue.
09:08Mahmoud Khalil did nothing other than stand up for what he believed was right.
09:14He inspired others through political advocacy.
09:16He stood up and raised his voice when he saw a great injustice happening.
09:20And whether you agree or not, that is his constitutional right.
09:26To use an antiquated Cold War era provision that is in the Immigration and Nationality
09:33Act, and I serve as the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, to use that provision
09:38to arrest and detain him simply because the Trump administration didn't agree with him
09:43is unlawful.
09:45And his case is only the beginning of the stripping of basic constitutional protections.
09:50This is the playbook of authoritarians and dictators.
09:54It is outrageous that Mahmoud Khalil, who is a lawful permanent resident of the United
09:59States, a green card holder, married to a U.S. citizen, has been shipped off to an ICE,
10:05an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana, more than 1,000 miles
10:10from his home in New York.
10:12And while this crackdown may be beginning with pro-Palestinian protesters and immigrants
10:18of all legal statuses, that is not where it will end.
10:23Trump and the administration are going after anyone who objects to his agenda.
10:28I am so proud that on March 14th, I and more than 100 of my House colleagues were on a
10:35letter condemning the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil and the use of this antiquated immigration
10:41law to go after non-citizens exercising their rights.
10:45None of us will stop fighting until we get answers, and until Mahmoud is home with his
10:51wife where he belongs, and until we ensure the free speech rights of everyone in this
10:57country.
10:58Every single American should understand that what is happening to one person can happen
11:03to them.
11:04And Trump's undermining of Mahmoud's free speech rights undermines the rights of us
11:08all.
11:09We will not let it stand.
11:12And now it's a great honor to turn it over to somebody who's been a champion in the field
11:16of constitutional rights, my friend, the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional
11:21Rights, Vince Warren.
11:23Good morning, my name is Vince Warren, I'm the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional
11:31Rights.
11:32And our organization, along with the ACLU, CLEAR, and numerous other lawyers represent
11:37Mahmoud Khalil in this terrible journey that he has found himself on.
11:43And let's be clear about what the rule of law, the state of the rule of law in this
11:47country is right now.
11:49This administration is saying that just because someone criticizes foreign policy makes them
11:55subject to deportation regardless almost of their immigration status.
12:01That makes it so that immigration is the fig leaf, that is the excuse.
12:06What is really actually happening is that this administration is punishing people that
12:11speak out against it.
12:13There are many people in this country that disagree with what this administration is
12:17doing.
12:18Do they intend to arrest us all?
12:19Do they intend to deport us all?
12:22No.
12:23What they want to do is they want to focus on the people that are the least, that have
12:27the least protection, that are the most vulnerable, and pretend that the Constitution doesn't
12:32apply to them.
12:33Well friends, I'm here to tell you that the Constitution most certainly does apply to
12:37them.
12:38And ironically enough, this administration is creating a situation that is the exact
12:45opposite of why people decided to come to this country.
12:49Across this nation, there are people that have come to the United States because they
12:52were fleeing authoritarian regimes.
12:55They were fleeing administrations that would totally unplug their infrastructure.
13:00They were fleeing administrations that were doing attacks on civil societies.
13:03They were fleeing administrations that were punishing people just because they disagreed
13:08with the government.
13:10Well guess what?
13:11They are now here in the United States, and the United States is living out its worst
13:16nightmare of what the rule of law should look like.
13:20I want to say very clearly that Mahmoud has sent messages to us all.
13:25He's got a wonderful, wonderful letter, which I encourage you to read.
13:29But we should also be clear that this is not a regular deportation proceeding.
13:34What this is, is an attempt at disappearance.
13:37Again, something that happens routinely in authoritarian countries, and it is happening
13:43right here.
13:44If it were not for the lawyers that were able to file a habeas corpus petition in the wee
13:49hours in the morning after we found out that Mahmoud was taken, the courts wouldn't even
13:55know about it.
13:56And if it wasn't for the lawyers that once the administration decided to transfer Mahmoud
14:00a thousand miles away in the hopes that the law wouldn't, the habeas corpus petition wouldn't
14:06reach him, it was the lawyers that got an order from the judge to bring Mahmoud back
14:11closer to home.
14:12It is also the lawyers that got the judge to issue an order that says that Mahmoud shall
14:18not be deported until he has his due process here.
14:22I'm not trying to make the lawyers the history, the heroes, but I am saying to all of the
14:27people, if we rely just on the law, just on the law to be able to vindicate the full rights
14:35that we have in our country, we're always going to be subject to the whims of an authoritarian
14:40regime because their game plan is to move the law aside.
14:44They're criminalizing judges.
14:46They're coming up with specious, unprecedented rules as to why they say people should be
14:52able to be deported.
14:53They're pushing back on law firms and saying that law firms can't represent people.
14:57What does that add up to?
14:59That adds up to a key piece of the authoritarian game plan that says the first thing we do
15:04is kill the lawyers and then we can do whatever we want.
15:09It's up to everybody to make sure that that doesn't happen.
15:12So I'm very happy to say here that we are standing for freedom.
15:16We are standing for Mahmoud.
15:18We need to free him now.
15:19We've got a bail application that's pending in front of the court.
15:22He needs to be released and we need to, he needs to be not an example of what happens
15:27in our worst moments.
15:28He needs to be, as a human being, needs to be an example of what happens when we live
15:32up to the promise of the rights and freedom that we are fighting for in this country.
15:39And with that, I'm very happy to give it to Greg Kassar, Congressman Greg Kassar, to give
15:46some remarks.
15:52Good morning.
15:53I'm Greg Kassar.
15:54I'm proud to represent the heart of Texas in the United States Congress and to be chairman
15:59of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
16:03For the freedom of speech, we must free Mahmoud Khalil.
16:07For the freedom of assembly, we must free Mahmoud Khalil.
16:11For the founders of this country and the framers of our constitution, we must free Mahmoud
16:17Khalil.
16:18Today's press conference is certainly about Mr. Khalil and this is also about the rights
16:25of all Americans.
16:27In this country, all people are supposed to be free to express their views without fear
16:34of being punished by the government.
16:37Everyone should be able to speak up and say just what it is they think nonviolently without
16:42being worried that the government is going to surveil you, follow you, come to your house
16:47and arrest you.
16:49It should not matter if your views are left or right, popular or unpopular.
16:55The freedom to speak up is a fundamental American right.
16:59And I want, as the Progressive Caucus chair, for conservatives at home, independents at
17:06home, people with right-wing views at home know that we should work together to make
17:11sure that no matter what your views are, that you should be allowed to speak out without
17:16the government sending its law enforcement for you or your family.
17:21Mahmoud Khalil was a legal permanent resident who was targeted for his political activism.
17:27The administration targeting people for detention based on their political views should send
17:32a chill down the spine of every single American.
17:36This administration's plans will not end with Mr. Khalil.
17:40They will target activists who speak out about the plundering of taxpayer dollars by billionaires.
17:47They will target those whistleblowers who speak out about the incompetence that we see
17:53within this administration.
17:56Make no mistake, this administration does not care about people's everyday security.
18:02They just were exposed for planning an international bombing campaign via text message.
18:10So this administration is more focused on cutting your Social Security to hand tax breaks
18:16out to billionaires.
18:17More focused on cutting your health care to hand tax breaks out to billionaires.
18:21More focused on firing veterans and taking their salaries for themselves so that they
18:26can get billions of dollars more in corporate contracts.
18:30And when people speak out against injustice at home or abroad, when they speak out about
18:37the killings in Gaza, when they speak out about war, we should make sure that those
18:42people can speak their views, whether they agree with me or not.
18:47I mean, just think about the moment we're in for a moment as a country.
18:51I'm sure many people at home, you've got kids that will eventually be in college.
18:57When someone's in college, don't you want them to be able to speak out, speak their
19:01views, protest, assemble, and not be worried that your child could be targeted by the federal
19:09government?
19:11No administration should be allowed to do that.
19:13And before this year, we felt that we were in a country where that was not going to happen.
19:18Well that is exactly what's happening.
19:21And it is up to members of Congress, but actually ultimately the people, to stop it.
19:26Because the people in our constitution are the ultimate check and balance on government
19:31abuse.
19:34I'll say it one more time.
19:36We're in a country right now where federal law enforcement that is supposed to be keeping
19:41us safe from violence and harm is being sent to follow, arrest, and disappear people from
19:50this country just because they disagree with the administration politically.
19:55That's horrifying.
19:56That's something that we think of happening in other countries, but that's happening here
20:00today.
20:01So for the freedom of speech, we must free Mahmoud Khalil.
20:04For the freedom of assembly, we must free Mahmoud Khalil.
20:08And for the freedom that live in a country that abides by its constitution, we should
20:11free Mahmoud Khalil.
20:17And next we are going to hear from Mike Samour at the ACLU.
20:21Thanks so much.
20:26Good morning.
20:28I'm Mike Samour at the ACLU.
20:30I want to thank the representatives for their strong leadership.
20:34And I want to be clear that Mahmoud Khalil was taken from his home, from his wife, for
20:41one reason and one reason only.
20:43It's because the federal government did not agree with what he was saying.
20:48It doesn't matter what pretext they may come up with after the fact.
20:54This is a clear violation of Mr. Khalil's First Amendment rights.
20:57But let's also be clear that it's not only an attack on Mr. Khalil or on students or
21:04on people with visas or lawful permanent residents.
21:08No, this is an attack on every single one of us.
21:13Because if any of us is free only to say or read or protest what the government approves
21:21of, then we don't live in a free country anymore.
21:26That's why there's only one acceptable outcome to this case, and that is to free Mahmoud
21:32Khalil.
21:33The ACLU and CCR and our excellent co-councils will be carrying this fight in court to defend
21:42Mr. Khalil's First Amendment rights.
21:45But make no mistake.
21:47The fight to protect our rights cannot be waged only in court.
21:53We need everyone, legal organizations and members of Congress, sure, but everybody across
21:58society to rise up and defend the First Amendment.
22:02And I know it takes courage.
22:04Mr. Khalil's case proves the point.
22:07It shows the risks of speaking out when the government is determined to punish speech.
22:14But that's exactly the point, right?
22:17They're trying to bully us into complying with the regime-sanctioned point of view.
22:23And if they're successful, then our free speech rights are really just an empty husk.
22:29There's plenty of people who have come before us to defend rights, to stand up and show
22:35the courage to fight for rights that have been denied.
22:39We know what that looks like.
22:41And now it's our turn.
22:43So whether you're in Congress or the courtroom, whether you're in corporate America or on
22:48a college campus, we need all of us to stand together in this.
22:53All of us need to show the courage to defend the First Amendment and to defend our freedom.
23:06Mike said it perfectly.
23:08It's going to take every one of us in this precise moment to come together and understand
23:13that our liberation is intertwined in the liberation of each other.
23:16Yes, it's going to take the courts, and I'm so grateful for our civil society who's taking
23:21on this fight for our constitutional rights.
23:24Yes, it's going to take members of Congress, and it's going to take more than 100 of us.
23:28Every single member of Congress who took an oath to protect our Constitution should be
23:33saying, free Mahmoud Khalil right now.
23:35And it's also going to take our organizations, our community leaders, and every resident
23:42around this country to ask themselves, are we at a make or break moment for our Constitution,
23:50for our First Amendment rights?
23:53And what will we do about it?
23:56Because the reality is that while they have taken Mahmoud Khalil, they have also taken
24:01others already.
24:03You heard Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib talk about Cornell University.
24:07We're seeing it in Georgetown University.
24:09We certainly have seen someone else at Columbia University.
24:11We're seeing immigration advocates also being taken by this precise government that will
24:18not allow anyone to speak against injustice if they can get away with it.
24:24But today, I think it's important that we say we will not let them get away with it.
24:30Not today, not tomorrow, and not ever.
24:34Today is a moment for every one of us watching to ask ourselves, what will we do to protect
24:43freedom of speech?
24:45What will we do in this precise moment to stand for justice?
24:49When you have a government that has now decided that we are the biggest threat to his authoritarian
24:55agenda, to his white supremacist agenda, to the injustice that says that some are Americans
25:03and others are not, to this idea that some have constitutional rights and others do not,
25:09this is a critical moment for this nation.
25:14But it is also a moment to mobilize like we've never seen before.
25:18And so today, we stand at a press conference.
25:22Later we'll be at a protest.
25:24Later we'll be at actions.
25:26And for every person watching, if your member of Congress has not spoken against this injustice,
25:33then you call him and ask him, what are you doing to free Mahmoud Khalil today?
25:40With that, I'll take some questions.
26:02Yeah, I mean, I think that what you've realized is that freedom of speech is only convenient
26:12when it works for a particular group of people.
26:15The number of my colleagues I have heard in committee and at protests and rallies saying
26:21all sorts of things to the previous administration.
26:23Can you imagine if the previous administration would have said, we're going to criminalize
26:27your dissent?
26:28We're going to detain you.
26:29We're going to persecute you.
26:31And I think it's really important, as Congressman Kassar just said, that we are very clear about
26:35what's happening here.
26:37This president is saying, if you dare to question what I am doing, God forbid if you dare to
26:44be a person of color, but if you dare to question what I am doing, I will hunt you down, persecute
26:51you and imprison you.
26:53That is what we see in this precise moment.
26:56And for anyone that has ever bragged about how, at least in this country, we can speak
27:01up against injustice, for those of us that have said, well, we are the country that demonstrates
27:06democracy to other countries, we have to be very clear that our very own democracy is
27:13on the line.
27:14Mahmoud Khalil is a clear example of what is happening around this country, where they
27:21dare to criminalize dissent.
27:23And it's exactly why I think for every single person in this country who values freedom
27:29of speech, those veterans that fought for that freedom of speech, we should all come
27:35together and say, what's happening here impacts all of us.
27:51Look, I think that every chance we get when we're in a committee hearing, we should be
27:57talking about this.
27:58Every time we're on the House floor, we should be using our five minutes or one minute or
28:02special order hour to talk about what's happening to Mahmoud Khalil and how it actually impacts
28:07everything we say we care about.
28:09It also means that we need more than 100 Democrats.
28:12Frankly, we should have every single Democrat signed on to letters, to statements, to resolutions
28:17to say we protect freedom of speech.
28:20It doesn't matter who it is.
28:22And so I think for us in this precise moment, we should be asking ourselves, are members
28:27of Congress who took an oath to protect the Constitution doing everything we can to uphold
28:33the Constitution?
28:34And if we can't answer that, then we certainly have a lot more to do.
28:38Any other questions?