Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, has denounced the Columbia University student’s arrest.
“The federal government is claiming the authority to deport people with deep ties to the US and revoke their green cards for advocating positions that the government opposes,” Wizner said in a statement.
He said the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of speech, protects everyone in the country.
“The government’s actions are obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate. The government must immediately return Mr. Khalil to New York, release him back to his family, and reverse course on this discriminatory policy.”