Professor Chin Weighs in for Conversation, Christian Science Monitor, NBC About Scholars Targeted for Deportation

Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin wrote a legal explainer piece for The Conversation and spoke to the Christian Science Monitor about the March 5 arrest and subsequent detention of Mahmoud Khalil, the recent Columbia University graduate and Syrian-born Palestinian rights activist whom the Trump administration intends to deport despite his permanent legal resident status.

In detaining Khalil, the White House has invoked a little-known provision of federal immigration law that allows Secretary of State Marco Rubio broad authority to declare individuals “deportable.”

In The Conversation, Chin explained differences between the rights of citizens and lawful permanent residents, or “green card” holders. Chin noted that although the Supreme Court recognizes lawful permanent residents’ First Amendment rights to free speech, it upheld deporting lawful permanent residents based on their political activities during the anti-Communist campaigns of the 1950s.

“So, while lawful permanent residents may not be criminally prosecuted for their political speech or activity, what they say or write may well affect their ability to remain in the U.S., if the government determines that they are a security risk,” Chin wrote.

Chin told the Monitor that Khalil’s arrest, “like a lot of things that this administration is doing, is pushing the law to the limit.” Chin also spoke to France’s Mediapart for a March 29 French-language story on Khalil’s arrest. 

On March 20, Chin spoke to NBC News about the detentions of Khalil and Georgetown University's Badar Khan Suri, and the deportation of Brown University's Dr. Rasha Alawieh, all of whom, NBC notes, are "accomplished academics who may not be on the same page as the government when it comes to foreign policy."

"There is no question that this is an attempt by Trump and his administration to chill the speech of academics, particularly those who are not U.S. citizens, that he does not agree with," Chin told NBC News. "This is a new era."

Chin is a Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law and holder of the Edward L. Barrett Jr. Endowed Chair at UC Davis School of Law. He is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.