The deportation proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who played a major role in the anti-Israel protests and encampments at Columbia University last year, illustrate how some foreign nationals granted residency in the United States betray that privilege and exploit the country’s benefits and privileges in order to sow disruption and promote hateful movements.

President Donald Trump had heralded actions like this in January when he promised “forceful and unprecedented steps to combat anti-semitism,” including the deportation of Hama

If the Trump Administration comes out on the wrong side of this fight, it will be because defending free speech remains a politically lucid and powerful principle.