Last weekend, former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities. The move was an escalation in the Trump administration's crackdown on dissent, and it has people wondering: isn't this against the constitution?Brittany is joined by Chenjerai Kumanyika, a journalism professor at NYU, and Rick Perlstein, a historian of conservatism. Together, they talk about America's love/hate relationship with the First Amendment, and what ICE's arrest of a lawful permanent resident could mean for America's culture of protest.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. All right, everybody. This week, we are connecting the dots between Columbia University, Cool Hand Luke, and William F. Buckley. I already know you are asking, how are all of these things connected?
Well, today we are going to find out with NYU journalism professor Chenjerai Kumunika and author Rick Perlstein. His books like Nixonland and Reaganland trace the rise of conservatism in America. Chenjerai, Rick, welcome to It's Been a Minute.
Yeah, yeah. So excited to be here.
Happy to have you both. All right, so let's set the stage for this conversation. Last weekend, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities. Khalil was one of the student leaders in Columbia University's campus protests against the war in Gaza. He's now a graduate of the university.
What's important to note about his arrest is that Khalil is in fact a green card holder, meaning he is a lawful permanent resident of the United States. So why are federal immigration authorities going out of their way to detain a legal resident of the United States who hasn't committed any crimes yet?
Well, President Trump said Khalil's arrest is the first of many to come as part of a policy to punish protesters who his administration claims are terrorist sympathizers or supporters of Hamas. This is something that President Trump himself campaigned on during the 2024 election.
Under my administration, we will proactively send ICE to pro-jihadist demonstrations to enforce our immigration laws and remove the violators from our country.
To be clear, Khalil has no known ties to Hamas or any terrorist organization. And of course, protesting is a right protected by our First Amendment. As soon as this story went public, people, and I mean everyone from political pundits to regular everyday folks were like, how is this possible? Isn't this a violation of the First Amendment?
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