Why was Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident of the US arrested, and why has his arrest led to hundres of protests across the country? What does it have to do with Project Esther, a policy created by the Heritage Foundation (the same foundation that created Project 2025) to curb speech that critiques Isreal and the US policy on Palestinian civil rights? In today's episode, we discuss the weaponization of deportations as a tool to police speech and its relationship to Christian Nationalism.

The Progressive Christians Podcast is a ministry of The Loft, a worship community of Westwood United Methodist Church. If you have an idea for the show or want to connect with us, please email us at [email protected].

Links that we mention in today's episode:

1. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/us/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-ice-green-card-hnk/index.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
2. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/g-s1-45468/trump-antisemitism-executive-order-protests-deport-hamas
3. https://www.umnews.org/en/news/united-methodists-join-suit-against-trump-policy
4. https://zeteo.com/p/scoop-emails-show-mahmoud-khalil-ask-columbia-protection-ice?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
5. https://zeteo.com/p/marco-rubio-personally-signed-off?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
6. https://theintercept.com/2025/02/15/columbia-alumni-israel-whatsapp-deport-gaza-protesters/
7. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/11/15/project-esther-a-trumpian-blueprint-to-crush-anticolonial-resistance
8. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2ppJvVK/
9. https://bsky.app/profile/yasharali.bsky.social/post/3lkjhbpckxc2l