DSA San Diego condemns the unlawful detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last Sunday, March 9. We further condemn the subsequent persecution of two other Columbia University students, one who remains in detention and one who has returned to her country of origin. All three students participated in Palestinian solidarity protests last year, and have been targeted explicitly for their political activity.
Immediately prior to ICE’s blatantly unconstitutional incursion, three agencies jointly announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal contracts and grants to Columbia University for supposedly fostering a climate of antisemitism. The writing is on the wall – should any institution hesitate to collaborate with federal orders, even those that threaten its ability to fulfill its commitment to public service and academic freedom, it will be threatened with insolvency. The Department of Education has since published a list of 60 universities it deems to be similarly insensitive – no mind the extraordinary irony that at the same time, it and the Department of Justice are threatening to sanction institutions for diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Our chapter urges the leaders of San Diego universities to consider the long-term consequences of complicity with fascist demands. This repression does not end with the removal of protesters calling for Palestinian liberation. It does not end with foreign-born students, or students from racial or gender minorities calling our communities to account for the harm they suffer disproportionately. It is the obligation of public-serving institutions to resist the dehumanizing march of oligarchs as they shred the freedoms our constitution promises.