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Green Card, visa holders at risk of being deported amid uproar over Mahmoud Khalil's arrest? Know if US laws protect you
The US can deport visa or Green Card holders. Read to know if immigration laws provide you any safety.
Many Green Cards and temporary visas holders in the US are expressing worries that their documents may be terminated in the wake of Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants and uproar over the arrest of Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil.
Khalil, who is currently battling deportation, is a permanent resident. The calls for his deportation have increased concerns about the security provided to Green Card and visa holders under the US laws.
Amidst the ongoing protests in the wake of Khalil's arrest, Trump administration has claimed his deportation is warranted since he failed to disclose ties to the two groups in his petition to become a permanent US resident.
According to the US government, Khalil failed to mention on his green card application that he previously worked for the British Embassy's Syria office in Beirut and was a member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Khalil “sought to procure an immigration benefit by fraud of willful misrepresentation of a material fact,” the Trump administration stated in a brief on Sunday.
However, Khalil's lawyers rejected the new rationale for his deportation as inadequate.
“We're not surprised at all because it's a recognition that the initial charges are unsustainable,” lawyer Baher Azmy told CNN.
Claiming that the government's new hypothesis is “more legally defensible”, Azmy stated that he believes “this doesn’t cure the obvious taint of retaliation.”
Also Read: Marriage fraud for Green Card? USCIS warns of severe penalties amid Trump's immigration crackdown
Are Visa, Green Card holders at risk of being deported?
Speaking to Newsweek, David Leopold, an immigration lawyer with UB Greensfelder in Ohio, stated: “I feel like anxiety is higher. I think what people have realized over the last weeks and days is that immigration status in the United States can be challenged, it can be revoked, and there can be serious consequences.”
President Donald Trump has attempted to implement a number of policy changes in recent weeks, in addition to using provisions of the immigration law that have been in place for decades.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared for an interview with CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday. On being asked about numerous reports of students' visas being revoked for allegedly spreading pro-Hamas propaganda during demonstrations on college campuses, he said, “Every day now we are approving visa revocations.”
Eliss Taub, a partner at Siskind Susser, an immigration law company, mentioned that it is undoubtedly a time of uncertainty as they are witnessing a significant rise in clients experiencing elevated anxiety, reported Newsweek.
According to him, Green Card holders have also expressed concerns about leaving the country.
Taub has also suggested to her clients to avoid leaving the United States unless it is very urgent.
Can US deport Visa and Green Card holders?
The US can deport visa or Green Card holders if they have violated immigration rules or US laws.
A court hearing would be required if the federal government decided to initiate removal proceedings against an immigrant who was already in the country. Their designated visa would be revoked as part of this procedure.
In the case of PhD student Khalil, who was charged with “advocating for violence and terrorism” during campus protests, Rubio clarified earlier this month that having a visa to enter the US “is a privilege, not a right.”
The Trump Administration is committed to refuse or cancel visas of people “who are here to support terrorists,” he added.
Do Visa and Green Card holders have any protection under US laws?
According to USCIS, a person with a green card is entitled to live in the country indefinitely as long as they don't do anything that “would make you removable under immigration law.” This includes failing to file taxes and breaching the law.
The US regulations protect green card holders, and they even enjoy a greater job application freedom than those who entered the country on work-based visas.
