As protests arise and First Amendment questions mount surrounding the immigration detention of Mahmoud Khalil, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. penned and circulated a letter demanding the immediate release of the recent Columbia University graduate.

It found little support among Tlaib’s colleagues in Washington, with a mere 14 Democrats signing their names on the letter condemning Khalil’s detention as an “illegal abduction.”

Instead, statements from prominent Democrats suggest much of the party is taking the Trump administration’s targeting of Khalil in good faith.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., who counts Khalil as one of his constituents, did not sign the letter. When contacted by The Intercept about the case, Espaillat said he expects the Trump administration – which has explicitly flouted and sought to circumscribe federal legal protections for civil liberties – to adhere to the rule of law.

“Regarding the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a constituent who lives in my district, my office has been........

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