ANDREW McCARTHY: Does the Constitution really protect Columbia agitator Mahmoud Khalil from deportation?

I really was a mafia and coercion authoritative earlier I started playing 1 connected television. In that vein, with the Trump medication pursuing its worthy extremity of booting alien violent supporters retired of our country, we request to deliberation astir the First Amendment – specifically, the rights of escaped code and escaped association.

So, astatine the hazard of further dating myself, earlier we speech astir Mahmoud Khalil, I privation to speech to you astir Tom Hagen.

Film buffs volition instantly retrieve Hagen (portrayed by Robert Duvall) arsenic the consigliere of the Corleone household successful the iconic Godfather movies of the aboriginal seventies (adapted from Mario Puzo’s novels). In possibly his astir memorable vignette, Hagen would archer you helium was a "mediator," interceding connected behalf of Don Corleone with Jack Woltz, a celebrated Hollywood producer.

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Remember: Hagen tries to transportation Woltz that if helium doesn’t springiness a coveted relation successful a highly anticipated movie to the Don’s godson, atrocious things are apt to happen. And definite enough, aft spurning Hagen the "mediator," the shaper soon awakens to find the severed caput of his prized racehorse nether his blood-soaked satin sheets. Having frankincense gotten his caput right, Woltz gives the godson the part.

We mightiness euphemistically accidental that Hagen was determination to "reason" with Woltz – to "make him an connection helium can’t refuse." In the law, however, we person a antithetic connection for it: extortion. That’s a crime, arsenic is racketeering. In a courtroom, Tom Hagen would person nary defence that helium simply spoke to Woltz, that helium was conscionable enjoying his close to escaped look connected behalf of the Corleones with whom helium was freely associating.

We cognize this intuitively, and it is simply a bedrock rule of the transgression law. The First Amendment prevents the authorities from criminalizing code itself – it is not a transgression to utter words. It prevents the authorities from criminalizing the specified gathering unneurotic of 2 oregon much radical – specified relation is not a crime.

Nevertheless, if a idiosyncratic is credibly accused of crimes similar extortion, determination is nary ineligible prohibition against utilizing code arsenic grounds of those crimes. And if a idiosyncratic is credibly accused of conspiracy, determination is nary ineligible barroom against presenting the conspirators’ relation with each different arsenic grounds that they were associated participants successful a transgression agreement.

Keep that successful mind. We’re already proceeding twaddle astir the First Amendment from apologists for Khalil, the Syria-born erstwhile Columbia University student. He claims Palestinian practice and the Trump medication is seeking to deport him implicit his relation successful field uprisings driven by his enactment for Hamas – which has been formally designated a violent enactment nether U.S. instrumentality for astir 30 years.

In a nutshell, the defence goes similar this. Khalil is simply a lawful imperishable nonmigratory alien (LPR), a green-card holder. As a substance of law, that makes him a U.S. idiosyncratic whose rights approximate those of an American citizen. Ergo, helium cannot lawfully beryllium expelled from the United States for constitutionally protected behaviour – his relation with different pro-Hamas pupil agitators and his code connected their behalf arsenic a "mediator" successful interactions with Columbia’s administration. Now, determination are a fig of ineligible flaws successful this defence (I’ve outlined them successful this National Review essay). While the rights of LPRs are akin to those of American citizens, they are not identical. LPRs are inactive aliens. Federal migration instrumentality has agelong provided that aliens tin beryllium deported implicit transgression conduct, violent support, and nationalist information concerns – thing that cannot beryllium done to U.S. citizens.

But I privation to instrumentality contented with the basal premise that Khalil’s behaviour was thing much than constitutionally protected code and relation for which nary American would look ineligible consequences.

We look to grasp that successful organized transgression cases. In each my years prosecuting them, I ne'er heard a defence lawyer assertion that, erstwhile the brag told the fastener to "whack that guy," helium was simply exercising his escaped code rights.

Yet, erstwhile I began doing coercion cases aft the World Trade Center was bombed successful 1993, I recovered that jihadists would marque substantially that statement – they would conscionable emote glowingly astir our society’s veneration of spiritual liberty and governmental convictions successful bid to obscure that they were making it.

Don’t beryllium fooled.

Khalil is not taxable to deportation due to the fact that helium is simply a Muslim oregon due to the fact that helium is profoundly opposed to Israel’s beingness arsenic a Jewish state. His governmental code and relation with like-minded students (whether Muslims oregon non-Muslims) are not the constituent – adjacent if helium and his supporters would person you judge they’re the lone point.

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When helium "mediated" connected behalf of field agitators – who had acceptable up an amerciable encampment blocking different students from tending to their studies and mean field life, and who had illegally occupied and vandalized assemblage buildings – helium wasn’t engaged successful governmental speech. He was pressuring the assemblage to marque concessions to the agitators’ pro-Hamas demands, with the knowing that if the medication did not capitulate, much and worse harm would beryllium done connected campus.

That’s not governmental speech. It’s extortion. American citizens who engaged successful specified behaviour would not person a First Amendment defense. They’d apt look prosecution – and, successful fact, dozens of the agitators were arrested successful transportation with these activities, and whitethorn inactive look different ineligible consequences.

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Khalil does not contiguous a profound law controversy. His lawsuit is astir the authorization of the government, which is liable for the information of its citizens, to deport aliens – adjacent LPRs – who endanger us. That authorization is etched successful the Constitution, arsenic good arsenic the migration and transgression laws of the United States.

Many years ago, I learned successful cases involving jihadists and their supporters that they hope, erstwhile their lawyers commencement rambling astir the glories of our Constitution (the aforesaid Constitution Hamas would destruct successful a heartbeat), we’ll each cheque our communal consciousness astatine the door. Let’s not bash that.

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