Right-wing media pundit Ann Coulter has questioned the effort by a pro-Israel group to put together a list of international students they say have taken part in protests in support of Hamas, arguing that it may be a violation of the First Amendment.
“There’s almost no one I don’t want to deport, but unless they’ve committed a crime, isn’t this a violation of the First Amendment?” Coulter wrote on X as she responded to a report from the New York Post.
The outlet reported that the names of international students in the U.S. on visas who had taken part in protests had been gathered by Betar, a pro-Israel group, with the aim of forcing them to return home with the help of the Trump administration.
Betar told The Hill that they “provide information on jihadis.”
“We also believe naturalized citizens will also soon face consequences as our president has said,” the group added.
“Where Ms. Coulter is wrong is that one who supports terror is committing a crime,” Betar told the outlet. “The very support for Hamas is grounds for deportation. Free speech is not supporting terror. This is the first of many Mahmoud’s we expect will be deported.”
Ross Glick, director of the U.S. chapter of Betar, told the New York Post, “We have started commencing lists of Jew-hating foreign nationals on visas who support Hamas.”
Mahmoud Khalil, a student at Columbia University, led pro-Palestinian protests and was arrested over the weekend by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sparking outrage as he’s a green card holder and permanent legal resident, according to his lawyer.
“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.
On Tuesday morning, responding to a report that she was questioning the effort to deport Khalil, Coulter added: “Manifestly, I make no mention of any specific protester whatsoever. I was responding to a Tweet about someone compiling a ‘list of pro-Hamas foreign students.’”
President Donald Trump bragged about the arrest of Khalil on Truth Social on Monday, claiming that those who led protests at campuses last year against the war in Gaza were taking part in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”
“We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again,” said Trump. “If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here.”
