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In the Review’s June 26 issue, Rozina Ali investigates the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Mahmoud Khalil—and the government’s attempts around the country to deport permanent residents, green card holders, visitors, and, on occasion, American citizens without due process and in violation of habeas corpus. Ali writes:

The administration and its allies have referred to the targeted as Hamas sympathizers, terrorist sympathizers, or simply terrorists. But despite the United States’ aggressive terrorism laws, the administration has been unable to charge them with terrorism or material support for terrorism. In the absence of any other evidence, it is clear that the government is seeking to deport these students and scholars for their points of view—which ultimately means that the Trump administration is arguing in court that it can expel from the US noncitizens whose political views it disagrees with.

Below, alongside Ali’s essay, are five articles from our archives about ICE and the immigration courts.

Rozina Ali
‘They’re Here to Detain Me’

Mahmoud Khalil has not been charged with a crime—but the government is attempting to deport him and other students and scholars for their points of view.

Julia Preston
In Trump’s Dragnet

Over the past two months, the president has been doing just what he promised during his campaign: assaulting every aspect of the US immigration system.

—March 30, 2025

Nadia Abu El-Haj
‘Mahmoud Is Not Safe’

Mahmoud Khalil’s detention is the result not just of the Trump administration’s agenda but of more than a year of moral panic around pro-Palestine protest.

—March 15, 2025

Julia Preston
Deportation Nation

The deportation system held sway over immigrant communities long before Trump became president, but under his direction it has become even more far-reaching, arbitrary, and cruel.

—October 8, 2020

Madeleine Schwartz
Inside the Deportation Courts

There is no principle of innocent until proven guilty in immigration court.

—October 10, 2019

Tina Vasquez
The New ICE Age: An Agency Unleashed

Under Obama’s orders, ICE was encouraged not to deport essentially harmless people who were simply in the US without authorization. These are the people Trump has freed ICE to target.

—May 2, 2018

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