Green card doesn’t mean you can stay in US for ever, says Vance
Vance made this statement while commenting on the arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who may be deported
US Vice President JD Vance has made it clear that a green card holder doesn’t get the right to stay in the United States for ever.
Vance said this on Thursday (March 13) while commenting on the arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who may be deported.
Khalil, who was born in Syria and came to the US for higher studies in 2022, was detained on Saturday for his role in protests against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia University in New York last year.
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A green card, known as a Permanent Resident Card, allows foreign nationals to live and work in the country. Many Indian nationals hold the green card.
"A green card holder doesn't have an indefinite right to be in the United States,” Vance told Fox News.
National security
“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.
“And if the secretary of state and the president decide this person shouldn’t be in America, they have no legal right to stay here, it’s as simple as that," Vance said.
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Khalil's arrest
The Trump administration has moved to revoke Khalil's green card, accusing him of "activities aligned with Hamas", the militant group whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
According to published figures, there were an estimated 12.7 million green card holders in the US as of 2023. Most green card holders end up becoming American citizens.