"Thought crimes": Rubio lays out government's justification for deportations based on "beliefs" [View all]

The Trump administration is claiming the right to deport individuals based on their beliefs or speech alone, as pressure mounts to release activist Mahmoud Khalil.

In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the government can expel legal residents from the country based on “past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful.” The memo came in response to a federal judge's order to show evidence in its case against Khalil.

Khalil was grabbed by federal agents inside his Columbia University housing last month and transported to a detention center in Louisiana.

Rubio pulled the alleged authority to rendition activists from a 1952 act that specifies the Secretary of State can flag an individual for deportation if their presence could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” The rarely-invoked clause is vague, though legal experts say the federal government cannot unilaterally revoke a person's green card status.