At a press briefing, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) defended Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident detained by ICE over his pro-Palestinian actions deemed by the Trump Administration to be in violation of his Green Card.
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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.