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US arrests Palestinian student who incited "anti-Israel" protests, expected to deport him

2025-03-10 20:17:14Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
US arrests Palestinian student who incited "anti-Israel" protests,
Mahmoud Khalil

Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian student who played a prominent role in last spring's anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, according to his lawyer.

Mahmoud Khalil was inside his Columbia University dormitory on Saturday night near Manhattan when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the building and arrested him, his lawyer, Amy Greer, told the Associated Press news agency.

Greer said she spoke on the phone with one of the agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on a State Department order to revoke Mahmoud Khalil's student visa. Informed by Greer that Mr. Khalil is in the United States with permanent resident status with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that as well.

The arrest appears to be among the first known actions based on President Donald Trump's promise to deport foreign students who joined university protests against Israel's war in the Gaza Strip last spring. His administration has claimed that the participants forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization.

Mahmoud Khalil served as a representative for the students as they negotiated with university officials to close the tent camp on university property, a role that made him one of the few student activists willing to make his name and identity public.

Authorities refused to tell Mahmoud Khalil's wife, who is eight months pregnant, whether he had been charged with a crime, Greer said. Mahmoud Khalil has since been transferred to an immigration detention center in New Jersey.

"We have not been able to get any more details about why he was detained," attorney Greer told the Associated Press news agency.

A Columbia University spokesman said law enforcement agents must obtain a court order before entering university property, but declined to say whether the school had obtained one before Mahmoud Khalil's arrest. The spokesman also declined to comment on the arrest of the Palestinian student.

The State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to requests for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security can initiate deportation proceedings against a green card holder for a wide range of criminal activities, including supporting a terrorist group. According to Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a New York-based legal services organization, revoking permanent resident status is the responsibility of an immigration judge.

"This feels like a retaliatory action against a man who expressed an opinion that President Trump's administration did not like," Ms. Mackler said.

Mr. Khalil was among those investigated by a new office at Columbia University, which has taken disciplinary action against dozens of students who have criticized Israel, according to data obtained by the Associated Press news agency.

The investigations follow the Trump administration's decision to increase scrutiny of Columbia University over what the government says is a failure to crack down on anti-Semitism on campus. On Friday, federal agencies announced they would suspend $400 million in grants and contracts for the university.

The indictment against student Mahmoud Khalil focused on his involvement in Columbia University's 'Apartheid Divest' group, alleging that he had helped organize an "unauthorized march" that glorified Hamas's October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel and played a "fundamental role" in circulating social media posts criticizing Zionism.

"There are 13 charges brought against me, most of them for social media posts that I have no connection to," Mahmoud Khalil said last week.

“They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they are doing something, regardless of the actions of the students,” he added. “It’s basically an office to limit pro-Palestinian speech.”


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