Lone House lawmaker opposes cracking down on Mexican cartels’ border tunnel system
The House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at cracking down on Mexican cartels’ use of tunnels underneath the southwestern border to smuggle illegal immigrants and illicit items the U.S.
The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 402 to 1 vote – with the lone dissenter being Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Fox News Digital reached out to her office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The bill is led by Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., but enjoys bipartisan support thanks to its lone Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif.
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It’s also backed by six other House Republicans, including Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on border security.
The legislation, titled the Subterranean Border Defense Act, would direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to submit an annual report to Congress about cartels’ use of tunnels and how U.S. law enforcement was looking to combat it.
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“Since 1990, officials have discovered more than 140 tunnels that have breached the U.S. border with an 80% increase in tunnel activity occurring since 2008,” Crane said during debate on the bill. “With border crossings thankfully going down since January, I think it’s safe to assume this will drive threats to our border underground through these tunnels.”
Debate on the bill was brief on Monday afternoon, lasting less than 10 minutes. Just Correa and Crane spoke, with no lawmakers rising to oppose the bill.
“I believe this bill is an important step in the right direction,” Correa said.
He said the legislation if passed “will improve Congress’ efforts to counter illicit cross-border tunnels and hold bad actors accountable.”
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It’s a rare show of bipartisanship in today’s House of Representatives, with Crane being known as one of the most conservative members of the House GOP.
House leaders held the vote under suspension of the rules, meaning the legislation was fast-tracked to a final House-wide vote in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds.
It’s what House GOP leaders have done for critical legislation that is expected to receive wide bipartisan support.
Republicans rip blue state governor for declaring a day that celebrates abortion
Oregon’s governor has signed a proclamation that will make March 10 “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day,” in an effort to reaffirm her administration’s commitment to “maintaining access to abortion care across the state.”
“Here in Oregon, we understand that abortion is healthcare, and providers are appreciated and can continue to provide care without interference and intimidation,” Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement. “To our providers and to the patients who live in Oregon or have been forced to retreat to our state for care, know that I continue to have your back.”
Immediately following the November election, officials said Kotek directed the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to partner with OHSU to replace the state’s three-year supply of Mifepristone — a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over 20 years ago for use in miscarriage management and to end a pregnancy.
The governor said she continues to work with providers and the OHA to monitor and identify ways to mitigate federal threats to reproductive care.
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“Oregon leads the nation with the strongest protections to access reproductive health care, including abortion. In these uncertain times, I’ll safeguard our values,” Kotek wrote in a post on X.
Oregon Senate Republicans shared their reaction to Kotek’s declaration and slammed the governor for focusing on “abortion provider appreciation” over fixing other issues in the state.
“Fix crime? Fix schools? Fix affordability? Nah… Kotek declares ‘Abortion Provider Appreciation Day’ instead,” the group wrote in post on X with a meme attached.
In 2023, Kotek signed the Access to Reproductive Health Care law, House Bill 2002. The bill protects access to reproductive healthcare and provides state funding to support the work of community organizations and clinical partners to ensure that people across the state have broader access to the reproductive healthcare they need.
The bill also allows minors to undergo sex reassignment surgery or obtain an abortion without their parent’s permission.
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Justin Hwang, chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, previously said, “HB 2002 is what happens when progressive politicians and their far-left base put woke ideology ahead of common sense.”
“This bill represents a new low for Oregon and an even bigger loss for children and parents,” Hwang told Fox News Digital. “Imagine being a father or mother who finds out that their child has made a life-changing decision without any consent or notification.”
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According to the governor’s office, reproductive health equity is a long-time priority of Kotek, both from her time as speaker of the Oregon House and during her tenure as governor.
The Pro-Life group “Oregon Right to Life” reacted to the governor’s proclamation and said they would not be supporting the measure.
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“You may have heard it’s Abortion Provider Appreciation Day—but we’re not celebrating abortion. We’re honoring a brave former abortion worker who chose to walk away from the industry,” the organization wrote in a post on X.
According to Oregon Health Authority data, of the 10,075 abortions provided in Oregon in 2023, 1,661 were patients who reside out-of-state, reflecting a nearly 60% increase from the prior year.
Where Trump stands in the polls 50 days into his second term in the White House
On the eve of his 50th day back in office, President Donald Trump is touting that America is “back.”
Trump, seven weeks into his second tour of duty in the White House, highlighted in an interview this weekend on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and his administration were moving “at a very rapid pace.”
“50 WINS IN 50 DAYS: President Trump Delivers for Americans,” the White House touted in an email release on Monday, as it touted Trump’s accomplishments — some of them controversial — since his Jan. 20 inauguration.
But the most recent national polls indicate Americans don’t have such a rosy view of the Trump presidency, and are divided on the job he’s done so far.
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Trump’s approval ratings were underwater in three surveys – from Reuters/Ipsos, CNN and NPR/PBS/Marist – which were conducted ahead of the president’s address last week to a joint-session of Congress. It was the first major primetime speech of his second administration.
But Trump’s approval ratings were in positive territory in other new polls.
And Trump, who has long kept a close eye on public opinion polling, took to social media on Monday to showcase his “Highest Approval Ratings Since Inauguration.”
While Americans are split on Trump’s performance, the approval ratings for his second term are an improvement from his first tour of duty, when he started 2017 in negative territory and remained underwater throughout his four-year tenure in the White House.
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But there’s been a bit of slippage.
An average of all the most recent national polls indicates that Trump’s approval ratings are just above water. However, Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president’s approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid 40s.
“Keep these numbers in perspective. The numbers he’s averaging right now are still higher than he was at any point during his first presidency,” veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse told Fox News.
And Newhouse emphasized that Trump’s Republican “base is still strongly behind him.”
Daron Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas, also pointed to Trump’s rock-solid GOP support.
“He never had support among Democrats in the first administration, but he also had some trouble with Republicans,” Shaw, who serves as a member of the Fox News Decision Team and is the Republican partner on the Fox News Poll, spotlighted. “That’s one acute difference between 2017 and 2025. The party’s completely solidified behind him.”
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The president has been moving at warp speed during his opening seven weeks back in the White House with a flurry of executive orders and actions. His moves not only fulfilled some of his major campaign promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles, quickly putting his stamp on the federal government, making major cuts to the federal workforce and also settling some long-standing grievances.
Trump as of Monday had signed 89 executive orders since his inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, which far surpasses the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their first weeks in office.
Those moves include a high-profile crackdown on immigration, slapping steep tariffs on major trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, and upending the nation’s foreign policy by freezing aid to Ukraine and clashing with that country’s president in the Oval Office.
“He has flooded the zone with his policies and he’s thrown Democrats into disarray,” Newhouse said.
And pointing to lackluster favorable ratings for the Democratic Party, Newhouse highlighted that Trump’s “numbers may be slightly slipping, but it sure as heck hasn’t gone to the Democrats.”
While he’s in a better polling position than during his first term, Trump’s approval ratings are lower seven weeks into his presidency than any of his recent predecessors in the White House.
Shaw noted that neither Trump nor former President Joe Biden “started out with overwhelming approval. This is not like the honeymoon period that we historically expect presidents to enjoy…. Historically, the other side gives you a little bit of leeway when you first come in. That just doesn’t happen anymore.”
Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low- to mid-50s during the first six months of his single term as president, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to the low- to-mid-40s.
However, Biden’s numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and amid soaring inflation and a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.
Biden’s approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency.
“He just got crippled and never recovered,” Shaw said of Biden.
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There are some warning signs for Trump.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll indicated that just one in three Americans gave the president a thumbs-up on his handling of the cost of living.
Shaw emphasized that inflation, the issue that helped propel Trump back into the White House, remains critical to the president’s political fortunes.
“If prices remain high, he’s going to have trouble,” Shaw warned.
RFK Jr on the dangerous impacts of ultra-processed food — and his plan to tackle it
Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to a Steak ‘n Shake in Florida over the weekend with Fox News host Sean Hannity, days after the company announced it would be cooking its iconic shoestring fries in beef tallow.
“Steak ‘n Shake has been great. We’re very grateful [to] them for RFK’ing the french fries. They turned me into a verb,” he said Monday on “Hannity.”
In a March 1 post on X, the company said it had officially started cooking with 100% all-natural beef tallow at all of its locations.
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The nearly century-old joint touts itself as the only burger chain in the United States to switch from vegetable oil to beef tallow, a rendered fat.
“The consumer wants the best and deserves the best. By adopting 100% beef tallow, Steak ‘n Shake is delivering the best fries possible,” said Kristen Briede, the chief global development officer for the company, in a statement.
RFK Jr. has touted beef tallow as a healthier alternative to seed oils, which is often one of the main components of processed foods.
“We want to do everything that we can to incentivize these companies to be transparent, to switch over from ultra-processed food, and to be part of this movement to make America healthier,” the former Independent presidential candidate said.
“We are poisoning ourselves and it’s coming from, you know, principally, these ultra-processed foods.”
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He added that the Trump administration is committed to “radical” transparency and wants to incentivize other companies to make the switch to more traditional and natural ingredients.
RFK Jr. met with the CEOs of big name food companies like General Mills, WK Kellogg Co., Kraft Heinz and The J.M. Smucker Co. Monday to address ways to advance food safety and consumer trust.
“People should be able to make their own choices. If you want to eat a donut or seed oils, you should be able to. You should be able to exercise informed choice. You should know what that product is, what’s in your food, and what the health impacts are. That’s all we’re going to do,” he said on “Hannity.”
The HHS secretary also stressed the need to get the obesity epidemic in the United States under control so people can live longer and healthier lives.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 40% of the U.S. adult population is obese.
RFK Jr. said studies from Stanford and Harvard show how mental illness, including anxiety and depression, can be related to food.
“Food is medicine. By changing your diet, you can lose some of those diagnoses,” he suggested.
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“This generation of our kids is the first generation in 200 years that is going to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. We are, you know, we are letting down these kids and there is a moral issue here. And we need to start grappling with it because it’s a moral issue. It’s a financial issue. Healthcare costs are going to sink us and the only way that we’re going to solve it is by changing what we eat.”
Wild fight breaks out in stands at high school basketball game: ‘Never seen anything this ugly’
A Pennsylvania high school basketball game saw a wild brawl in the bleachers end with arrests this past Friday night.
The game between Uniontown and Meadville High Schools got physical, but not with players on the court. Rather, it was parents in the stands, as at least two adult men were seen throwing punches, which led to quite the scene.
Video circulating online of the incident appears to show coaches and referees moving both teams to their benches in the fourth quarter. Then, cameras quickly shift to two men throwing punches at each in the stands, with many trying to break it up.
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“I’ve never seen anything this ugly break out in person,” an announcer on Unionville High School’s YouTube channel during the game said. “This was really a shame.”
The man who appeared to initiate the brawl was wearing a white jersey, and cameras caught him exiting his spot in the bleachers, walking down to the court and going to the other side behind Meadville to confront someone. That’s when things turned ugly.
One player from the Meadville bench, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and white pants, jumped into the stands to throw punches before a coach eventually brought him back down to the court.
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But things got much worse when a Meadville player chased after a fan, who appeared to provoke him near where the initial brawl was, and sent him flying down onto the court. Players from both benches looked like they were going to brawl before coaches quickly sent them to the locker room.
Different altercations happened at both ends of the court, but eventually dissipated.
Police officers were seen in the video of the altercation leading a man wearing a blue shirt out of the gymnasium in handcuffs. Another man at the opposite end of the gym was also in handcuffs.
TMZ Sports learned from Meadville police that they intend “to be charging several fans and players. Most likely with Disorderly Conduct.”
Announcers for the game noted a technical foul being called on Uniontown after a foul by Meadville was making the crowd upset before the brawl.
“Uniontown fans are going after the officials here a little bit,” the announcer said. “You might have some ejections here.”
Because of what occurred, the game was called by officials with 3:12 left in the fourth quarter, where Meadville was leading Uniontown, 63-55.
This game was the first round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s 5A state tournament, and the governing body’s official bracket as of 5:27 p.m. on Monday states a “double forfeiture” with neither team moving on.
Hershey, the team slated to face the winner of Uniontown-Meadville in the second round, has subsequently moved on to the quarterfinals.
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“I have contacted the schools involved and have requested a report from them by Monday AM regarding last night’s incident,” PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi told the Erie Times-News about the incident. “I have no further comment until I receive their reports.”
The PIAA did not initially respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Alleged kidnapping thwarted after woman slips note for help at gas station
A woman is safe after narrowly avoiding an alleged kidnapping when she alerted a bystander at a Utah gas station that she was in trouble.
The Iron County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Fox 13 Utah that Epigmenio Bustillos Marquez, 53, was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly attempted to kidnap a woman, only to have his attempt stopped by the victim who slipped a note to a witness at a southern Utah gas station.
Just before 1:30 p.m. on March 8, deputies were dispatched to the Cedar Band Travel Plaza, about seven miles southwest of Cedar City, for reports of a kidnapping.
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According to court documents obtained by the outlet, the witness told investigators that a woman had given her a handwritten note advising her she was in trouble and needed help.
The report stated that the witness watched the victim get into a white Chevrolet Equinox with Nevada license plates, before following the vehicle as it got onto Interstate 15 and began traveling northbound.
Deputies then conducted a traffic stop after catching the vehicle and reported the female victim, who was not identified, not behaving normally when they spoke to her and asked her to exit the vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Marquez, provided identification from Durango, Mexico, with a false name and date of birth.
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Investigators searched Marquez’s wallet and found another Mexican ID card with his actual name and date of birth. However, even after being shown the identification, Marquez continued to deny that it was his real identity, the outlet reported.
The victim told officers that she and Marquez had been in a relationship for 25 years. However, she mentioned that she noticed a recent change in Marquez’s behavior and that he had been erratic, the report read.
The victim then told police she had asked Marquez to drive her to work that morning, but when he picked her up he began accusing her of cheating in the relationship.
She added that instead of taking the victim to work, Marquez allegedly threatened to take her to Salt Lake City or Denver.
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Marquez allegedly threatened the victim, telling her that she would die if she tried to leave the vehicle due to the speed at which they were traveling, when she told Marquez she wanted to get out of the vehicle.
Marquez then took her phone so she couldn’t call anyone and at one point struck the victim in the mouth.
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According to jail records, Marquez was booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility on one first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault. He also faces misdemeanor charges of assault, providing false info, interruption of a communication device, prohibited use of an ID, and operating a vehicle without a license or permit.
Marquez has also been ordered to be held without bail, pending a pretrial hearing.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Iron County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Tim Walz reveals what Harris campaign did wrong during election’s final days
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the failed 2024 vice presidential candidate, conducted a postmortem on his 2024 campaign with former Vice President Kamala Harris, determining the Democrats played it too safe during the cycle.
“We shouldn’t have been playing this thing so safe,” Walz told Politico in an interview published Saturday.
He added: “I think we probably should have just rolled the dice and done the town halls, where (voters) may say, ‘You’re full of s—, I don’t believe in you.’ I think there could have been more of that.”
Walz joined Harris on the Democratic ticket in August 2024, just days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July amid mounting concerns over the commander in chief’s mental acuity and as Harris moved to pick up the mantle at the top of the ticket. The Harris campaign had just more than 100 days between Biden dropping out and rallying support for the Harris-Walz ticket on Nov. 5.
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The Trump-Vance ticket swept the battleground states on election night, catapulting them to victory with 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226.
Walz has been on a media blitz in recent days, including speaking with the New Yorker, joining MSNBC ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, speaking at the South By Southwest film festival on Saturday and teeing up an interview on California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast.
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Walz argued that Democrats “are more cautious” in engaging with the media than Republicans, while adding that he felt as if the campaign was never ahead, comparing it to a “prevent defense” strategy during a football game.
“In football parlance, we were in a prevent defense to not lose when we never had anything to lose because I don’t think we were ever ahead,” he said, which bolsters reporting following the election that internal Democratic polling showed Harris lagging behind Trump in the lead-up to Nov. 5.
Walz took ownership for the party’s loss in 2024, telling the outlet that “when you’re on the ticket and you don’t win, that’s your responsibility.”
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A handful of former presidential campaign staffers who spoke to the outlet under the condition of anonymity relayed that Walz wasn’t presented to voters in an effective manner, and was instead kept in a “box,” which they said compounded the Harris–Walz loss to the Trump–Vance ticket.
“He was underutilized and that was the symptom of the larger campaign of decision paralysis and decision logjam at the top,” one former senior Harris aide told the outlet. “Could he have changed a percent in Wisconsin? Maybe. We still lose even if we win Wisconsin.”
Walz was put “in a box,” and “we didn’t use him the way we could’ve,” the aide added.
“The world seemed to want more Tim Walz, and there were times when I wish they could’ve gotten more Tim Walz,” Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said, adding that he “wished they would’ve put [Walz] out there more.”
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“By the time they finally let him do anything at all, it’s like 20 days left, and he’s doing four states a day, and there’s only so much you could do,” another former staffer said of Walz. “It was too short.”
The aides argued that Walz faced a steep battle ahead of his debate against then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance, remarking that he was “super nervous” and “in his own head” while preparing to face the Trump running mate on the stage.
“It looked as if Vance was the conductor and Walz was following the script,” longtime Democrtic strategist David Axelrod told Politico of the VP debate. “I don’t think that was the reason they lost, but that was not helpful either.”
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Walz reportedly carried campaign flubs heavily on his mind, while some aides argued that the Harris campaign “didn’t do enough to punch back” against criticisms and defend Walz, such as when he falsely claimed he carried guns while in war. Walz joined the Army National Guard in 1981 and retired in 2005, but never saw combat.
“This was a guy who definitely was embarrassed by his flubs, didn’t handle them well, and seemed like there was a never-ending supply of them, so that was part of the issue of getting him out there everywhere,” a former Harris staffer told Politico. “I don’t look back on that campaign and think that the way we used Walz was a critical error.”
Walz revealed in an interview with the New Yorker, published March 2, that he is open to a potential presidential run in 2028, which was met with mockery by conservatives on social media earlier in March.
Walz reiterated in his Politico interview that he is “not saying no” to a potential 2028 presidential run if the opportunity should present itself.
“I’m staying on the playing field to try and help because we have to win,” Walz said. “And I will always say this, I will do everything in my power [to help], and as I said, with the vice presidency, if that was me, then I’ll do the job.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for additional comment on his remarks and did not immediately receive a reply.
Federal judge stops deportation of apparent anti-Israel Columbia University ringleader
A federal judge in Manhattan ruled that anti-Israel agitator Mahmoud Khalil is not to be deported “unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” on Monday.
Khalil, who led anti-Israel protests and encampments on Columbia University’s campus, was taken into custody on the Upper West Side in New York City on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said he was a former Columbia graduate student who “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The judge ordered a hearing for Wednesday. Khalil’s lawyer also filed a motion that he be returned to New York City while the case plays out. According to ICE, Khalil is currently being held at the Lasalle Detention facility in Louisiana. Khalil’s lawyer has insisted their client was detained illegally and should be released.
His attorney, Amy E. Greer, released a new statement Monday evening, saying he is “healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament.”
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The statement continued: “The remarks by government officials, including the President, on social media only confirm the purpose – and illegality – of Mahmoud’s detention. He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent in violation of the First Amendment. While tomorrow or thereafter the government may cite the law or process, that toothpaste is out of the tube and irreversibly so. The government’s objective is as transparent as it is unlawful, and our role as Mahmoud’s lawyers is to ensure it does not prevail.”
Khalil’s wife also spoke out in a statement, calling for her husband to be released.
“Mahmoud is my rock, he is my home, and he is my happy place…,” she wrote. “For everyone reading this, I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby. I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world. Please release Mahmoud Now.”
Politicians have also spoken out in defense of Khalil. “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., criticized his arrest, calling the incident an “egregious violation of constitutional rights.”
In a post published to Instagram on Sunday, Tlaib wrote that it was “dangerous to allow our government to target people based on political speech” and warned that “more targeting of students like this will happen.”
“Everyone should be concerned about this,” Tlaib said in the Instagram video.
The Michigan congresswoman also addressed the reports about Khalil having a student visa revoked after his lawyer said he was a legal permanent resident.
“They were revoking his student visa. Well, guess what? He doesn’t have a student visa,” Tlaib claimed. “He’s a green card holder, legal permanent resident.”
“Now, again, they proceed to engage the attorney … he or she asked for a warrant, they hung up on them,” she continued. “If you believe in constitutional rights, you understand that they’re targeting this person. And everyone knows he has been very vocal against the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and they’re targeting him and refusing him constitutional rights. Who’s next?”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement supporting Khalil.
“Mahmoud Khalil is a legal permanent resident whose wife, an American citizen, is eight months pregnant,” Jefferies said. “To the extent his actions were inconsistent with Columbia University policy and created an unacceptable hostile academic environment for Jewish students and others, there is a serious university disciplinary process that can handle the matter.”
Jefferies went on to say that “DHS must produce facts and evidence of criminal activity.” He said the actions of the Trump administration are “wildly inconsistent with the United States Constitution.”
In an X post on Monday, New York State Attorney General Letitia James expressed concern.
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“I am extremely concerned about the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, an advocate and legal permanent resident of Palestinian descent,” James’ post reads. “My office is monitoring the situation, and we are in contact with his attorney.”
James’ comments came hours before hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York to express support for Khalil. Pictures show demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, carrying signs and wearing keffiyehs.
President Donald Trump said Khalil’s apprehension was “the first arrest of many to come” in a recent social media post.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
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“Many are not students, they are paid agitators,” he added. “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaib’s office for additional comment.