US Vice President JD Vance sparked fresh controversy on Thursday, March 14, stating that a green card does not grant immigrants the right to stay in the country permanently.
Vance’s remarks were made in response to the recent arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder.
A green card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, allows foreign nationals, including Indians, to live and work in the US. However, despite its name, “permanent residency” does not necessarily mean lifelong security.
“A green card holder doesn’t have an indefinite right to be in the United States,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle.
“This is not fundamentally about free speech, and to me, yes, it’s about national security, but it’s also more importantly about who do we as an American public decide gets to join our national community,” he added.
Khalil’s arrest and allegations
Khalil, a US green card holder, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while returning to his university-owned apartment in Manhattan. His arrest is reportedly linked to his role in organising protests against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia in 2024.
Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State can order the deportation of immigrants deemed a potential risk to American foreign policy. Legal experts say this provision is rarely used, and Khalil’s lawyers argue it was never meant to suppress political dissent.
The arrest follows US President Donald Trump’s pledge, made during his first week in office, to arrest, deport, or deny visas to students engaged in Palestinian advocacy.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, March 13, Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist who is eight months pregnant, revealed that just two days before his arrest, Khalil had asked her if she knew what to do if ICE officers came to their door.
On Monday, March 10, a federal judge temporarily blocked Khalil from being deported, ruling that he would remain in the US while the court reviews his arrest and detention.
On Wednesday, March 12, Abdalla attended a court hearing in New York, where Khalil’s lawyers argued that his detention and potential deportation violated his constitutional right to free speech, Reuters reported. The judge extended the detention order while considering the legality of his arrest.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that the administration would revoke visas and green cards “of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
The Justice Department has not specified how Khalil’s actions might impact US foreign policy. Meanwhile, Trump and members of his administration have accused him—without providing evidence—of supporting Hamas.
Trump’s ‘gold card’ to give US citizenship
President Donald Trump on February 27 said the proposed ‘Gold Card’ will come with a pathway for citizenship for those who buy it, tentatively priced at $5 million and that they could be on sale in two weeks.
The ‘Gold Card’ will enable American companies to buy them for prized talents they want to recruit from US universities, and mentioned those from India, China and Japan and also allow wealthy foreigners to come to the US, some of whom, it is presumed, will start businesses that create jobs.
President Trump sees the ‘Gold Card’ also as a tool to raise money to pay down the national debt.
