EXCLUSIVE: "Free him? More like deport him": Congress backs up Trump administration on deporting pro-terrorist non-citizens

THE LOWDOWN:

• President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it crystal clear that the Trump administration will locate and deport “terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”

• Trump made the declaration following the announced deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a non-citizen student at Columbia University who is poised to be deported due to his direct support of Hamas, according to the administration.

• A senior State Department official told the Washington Reporter that the group Khalil “was negotiating on behalf of, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, has been explicitly pro-Hamas and pro-terrorism.”

• Other lawmakers, including then-Sen. Rubio (R., Fla.), have long advocated for deported pro-Hamas protesters who are in America on visas.

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear this week that the Trump administration “will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”

Trump made the declaration following the announced deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a non-citizen student at Columbia University who is poised to be deported due to his direct support of Hamas, according to the administration.

“Shalom Mahmoud,” Trump wrote, adding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “proudly apprehended and detained” Khalil. Trump blasted Khalil as “a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University” and said his arrest “is the first arrest of many to come.”

A senior State Department official told the Washington Reporter that Khalil “was one of the illegal encampment negotiators with [Columbia University] in April 2024 and was involved in the Barnard Library takeover.”

“The group he was negotiating on behalf of, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, has been explicitly pro-Hamas and pro-terrorism,” the State official said.

In 2023, Khalil was a political affairs officer with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The United Nations itself has said that at least nine of UNRWA’s employees “may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks” and human rights groups like UN Watch have criticized UNRWA for how thousands of its “teachers in Gaza celebrated the October 7th Hamas massacre.”

Republicans want funding to UNRWA zeroed out over the organization’s employee participation in the anti-Semitic attack. Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.) and the House Oversight Committee even investigated the Biden administration’s decision to resume funding to UNRWA following the reports of UNRWA employee participation in the October 7 massacre.

Since and before Palestinian terrorists October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, Republicans in Congress have taken a series of actions to hold American educational institutions accountable for harboring pro-terrorist students, and for serving as hotbeds of anti-Semitism.

The House Education and Workforce Committee, helmed by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.) last Congress, hosted high-profile hearings where Republicans like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) paved the way for the resignations of the leaders of supposedly elite colleges after the presidents failed to answer simple questions.

Other lawmakers, including then-Sen. Rubio (R., Fla.), have long advocated for deported pro-Hamas protesters who are in America on visas.

“If you have a visa in the United States and you support Hamas, you need to go,” Rubio said just days after the October 7th terrorist attack. In October 2023, Senate Democrats blocked Rubio’s resolution that called on President Joe Biden to revoke the visas of Hamas sympathizers.

While some Democrats, like those on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are finding common cause with U.S.-designated terrorist groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Republicans in Congress told the Reporter that they are firmly behind Trump and Rubio.

Here is what Republicans, including House GOP leadership and top Republicans on the Foreign Affairs and Education and Workforce Committees, told the Reporter about how Trump and Rubio are working to deport non-citizen pro-terrorist students:

Sen Ted Cruz (R., Texas):

“For the past year, we have seen college campuses disrupted and destroyed by Hamas sympathizers. It’s very simple — If you are here as a guest, on our soil, supporting a terrorist organization, you should be deported.”

Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.):

“President Trump and Marco Rubio are delivering on their promise to keep Americans safe by deporting terrorist sympathizers — ensuring they never return to the greatest country in the world. For four years, Joe Biden caved to the anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist wing of the Democratic Party, but that ends with the Trump administration. If you're here to sow destruction, incite chaos, or cause harm to Americans, you will be sent back to where you came from.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.):

“Free him? More like deport him.”

Rep. Burgess Owens (R., Utah):

“This is pretty simple: if you are in America on a green card or a visa, you are our guest and need to behave like one. If you promote terrorist activity, storm buildings, or violate the civil rights of your fellow students, you'll find yourself with a one-way ticket home. I'm completely behind Secretary Rubio's efforts to deport every single Hamas sympathizer who's been bold enough to spit in the face of American hospitality.”

Rep. Mike Simpson (R., Idaho):

“I’m fully supportive of President Trump and his efforts in canceling federal funds to universities who coddle terrorist sympathizers. No more taxpayer dollars should go to universities that fail to protect Jewish students.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.):

“President Trump is delivering strong America First leadership. Promises made, promises kept. To be in or study in the United States is a privilege; any supporter of terrorist groups must be immediately stripped of their visas and deported, and the schools that protect them defunded.”

Rep. Brian Mast (R., Fla.):

“If Mahmoud Khalil told customs officers when he entered the U.S. that he was coming here to intimidate and harass American Jews, shout death to America, promote Hamas, and occupy campus buildings they would have not let him in. We only have one nation and if we don’t defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic, nobody else will. I applaud President Trump and Secretary Rubio for leading with common sense and kicking terrorist sympathizers out of our country. It’s time for them all to leave.”

Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas):

“Under the Biden administration, there was a double standard. If you were a Republican voter, you were an extremist. Yet, if you were a pro-Hamas protester wreaking havoc across the country and engaging in illegal activities, you were a social justice warrior. That was a very dangerous precedent to set, and I am thankful that under the leadership of President Trump, Secretary Rubio is reversing that insane precedent and restoring common sense to our college campuses. I fully support Secretary Rubio’s decision to revoke the visas of pro-Hamas, non-citizen students from American universities and applaud his decisive action to defend our Jewish students, restore law and order, and not allow the same campuses that deny conservative speakers to get away with organizing pro-terrorist movements. Foreign students have the privilege, not the right, to study in the United States.”

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.):

“The Trump administration has the legal authority to expel Mahmoud Khalil, who has distributed terrorist propaganda and organized protests which have harassed students and destroyed school property. This sends the right message, and we cannot allow the spread of terrorist propaganda on college campuses.”

Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.):

“President Trump is right: if you come to our country on a visa and openly support Hamas, you have no place here. America stands with Israel, and we will not tolerate foreign radicals who glorify terrorism on our soil. This is about protecting our national security, our allies, and our values. Send them home.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R., Texas):

“I stand firmly with Secretary Rubio in making clear that any non-citizen student who supports Hamas and its barbaric agenda has no place in this nation. Under President Trump, we will stand with Israel, fight for freedom, and expel these terrorist sympathizers without hesitation.”

Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R., Texas):

“America will never be a safe haven for terrorist supporters. I fully back Secretary Rubio’s efforts to deport non-citizen students who openly support Hamas. There is no excuse for allowing foreign nationals who sympathize with our enemies to remain on U.S. soil. Not too long ago, a few of my colleagues and I went to Union Station to put American flags back up after pro-Hamas protesters tore them down, burned them, and replaced them with Palestinian flags. That kind of despicable behavior has no place in this country. If you hate America and glorify terrorists, you don’t belong here.”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R., Texas):

“The United States shouldn’t import people who seek the destruction of our civilization or who support foreign terrorist organizations. This is basic common sense. President Trump is putting the American people first by enforcing our immigration laws and ensuring our college campuses aren’t overrun by foreign terrorist supporters.”

Rep. Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.):

"From the very start, these protests have been driven by a deep-seated hatred toward the Jewish community. Anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head on college campuses, forcing Jewish students to live in fear while many university administrators stand idly by. The radicals who sympathize with Hamas are sympathizing with terrorists and should face consequences. Intimidation, threats of violence, and calls for the death of Jews have no place in America."

Rep. Greg Steube (R., Fla.):

“If you’re a foreigner in the United States and are threatening the end of western civilization, we will gladly help you punch a one-way ticket back to wherever you came from."

Rep. Craig Goldman (R., Texas):

“We’ve all seen the appalling groups of masked pro-Hamas protestors terrorizing college campuses and intimidating American students. I do not think the State Department is out of bounds by revoking the visas on individuals that are breaking the law. It is a privilege to come into the United States and participate in our higher education system — this does not give a foreign individual the right to commit crimes, support terrorism, promote antisemitism, and intimidate American students.”

Rep. Riley Moore (R., W.Va.):

“Promises made, promises kept — a great move by President Trump here. If you are a guest in our country and lead or participate in illegal activity, or support terrorists, we’ll send you packing.”

Rep. Addison McDowell (R., N.C.):

“Mahmoud Khalil is a prime example of why the Unmasking Hamas Act needs to be voted on and sent to the President immediately. These masked-up, anti-Semitic agitators feel emboldened to wreak havoc on society when they hide their identities. They hide because they know what they’re doing is wrong. Enough is enough.”

Rep. Pat Harrigan (R., N.C.):

"America will never be a refuge for those who stand with terror. A green card is not a free pass to spread extremism under the guise of activism. Mahmoud Khalil aligned himself with those who celebrate the slaughter of innocents, and now he faces the consequences. This nation welcomes those who uphold its values — not those who seek to destroy them. If you side with Hamas, you forfeit your place in the United States, and your next stop won’t be a university campus — it’ll be the departure gate."

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.):

“Anyone who supports terrorist activities against our country and our allies while simultaneously endangering the safety of American citizens must be investigated. I support President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s actions that will keep our country and our college campuses safe.”