Columbia Activist Detained By ICE For Protesting for Palestine

Arrest

Pro-Palestine Activist, Mahmoud Khalil, was arrested on Saturday, reportedly due to his activism. Khalil was apprehended by two plainclothes Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents at the Columbia university-owned apartment building where he lives with his wife, a US citizen. DHS agents reportedly informed Khalil that the U.S. Department of State had revoked his student visa, despite the fact that he is a lawful permanent resident with a green card.

According to a news release by Writers Against the War on Gaza, when Khalil’s wife, who is eight months pregnant, showed the agents his green card, “one agent was visibly confused and said on the phone, he has a green card.”

“However, after a moment, the DHS agents stated that the State Department had ‘revoked that too.’ Khalil’s wife then phoned his attorney, who spoke with the agents in an attempt to intervene,” the group said. “When Khalil’s attorney requested that a copy of the warrant be emailed to her, the agent hung up the call.”

Green card holders have broad rights as legal residents of the United States, including the right to work and protection by all laws of the United States, the person’s state of residence and local jurisdiction.

Khalil, who completed his work on his master’s degree in December, was at the forefront of the student-led anti-war movement at Columbia University last year. He was among those under investigation by a new university committee that brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism according to The Associated Press.

Activist Response

Writers Against the War in Gaza also stated, “Columbia’s continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible. A Palestinian student and member of the community has been abducted and detained without the physical demonstration of a warrant or officially filed charges. Like many other Arab and Muslim students, Khalil has been the target of various Zionist harassment campaigns, fueled by doxing websites like Canary Mission. This racist targeting serves to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others.”

An activist familiar with Khalil’s solidarity work said, “Mahmoud is foundational to our community. The state has escalated its repression of student opposition to the U.S.-backed genocide in Palestine, in which Columbia and all American universities are complicit.” Despite the chilling effect of this repression, the activist said that students “will keep fighting for Palestinian liberation and against state violence.”

Khalil spoke with CNN last spring when he was one of the negotiators representing student demonstrators during talks with Columbia University’s administration.

“As a Palestinian student, I believe that the liberation of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people are intertwined and go hand-by-hand and you cannot achieve one without the other. Our movement is a movement for social justice and freedom and equality for everyone,” he said.

Activists demonstrate for the release of Mahmoud Khalil, photo by SWinxy, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Trump’s Reaction

Khalil’s arrest is the latest in an escalation by Trump in what he calls “the first arrest of many to come”– to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses and comes days after he vowed to deport foreign students and imprison “agitators” involved in “illegal protests.”

“Following my previously signed executive orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a radical foreign pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University,” Trump posted Monday on Truth Social. “This is the first arrest of many to come.”

The Official White House X account followed this up with a post of its own with a picture of Khalil with the words “Shalom Mahmoud” along with the caption, ” We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.” –President Donald J. Trump.”

A curious choice of words for the White House to use the Hebrew word for hello/goodbye considering on March 1, Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that the administration will be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Tuesday Secretary of State Marco Rubio reserves the right to revoke former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil’s green card.

Leavitt said that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card for individuals who are “adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America.” 

“Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges, and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists, who have killed innocent men, women and children,” Leavitt said at the White House press briefing. “This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda fliers with the logo of Hamas. That is the behavior and activity that this individual engaged in.”

Leavitt said the Department of Homeland Security provided her with the fliers although she declined to provide proof of at the briefing because she “didn’t think it was worth the dignity of this room to bring that pro-Hamas propaganda.” 

“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,” Leavitt continued. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for siding with terrorists. Period.” 

Court Decision

A federal judge blocked any immediate effort by the Trump administration to deport Khalil, late Monday afternoon. Judge Jesse Furman ordered a hearing on Khalil’s case to be held Wednesday morning in New York City.

“To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” the Monday filing said.

“ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud follows the US government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza,” Khalil’s Attorney, Amy Greer said. “The US government has made clear that they will use immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress that speech.” She went on to say “He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent, in violation of the First Amendment. The government’s objective is as transparent as it is unlawful.”

Axios recently reported that the State Department, Department of Justice, and DHS were launching a “Catch and Revoke” effort to identify alleged pro-Palestinian activists based on artificial intelligence screening of social media. 

Court documents show that Khalil emailed interim university president Katrina Armstrong the night before his arrest to request her help in securing legal support and other protections following what he described as a “dehumanizing doxing campaign against him.” Khalil went on to say in the email that people were falsely labeling him a “terrorist threat” and calling for his deportation.

Although it’s not yet clear what he is being charged with, legal experts point out once there is an allegation the only person who has authority to revoke a person’s immigration status, such as a student visa or green card, is an immigration judge.

The State Department declined to comment on Khalil’s case, noting visa records are confidential under US law.

Activists in solidarity with Khalil launched a petition demanding his release from ICE custody. The petition can be found here.

American Values At Risk

First Amendment Protections
The right to free speech and peaceful assembly is foundational to American democracy. The First Amendment protects individuals—citizens and lawful residents alike—from government retaliation for expressing their views. If individuals are arrested or face deportation simply for engaging in protest, it raises serious concerns about government overreach and the erosion of civil liberties.

Due Process and Equal Protection
The U.S. Constitution guarantees due process under the law. If someone like Khalil, a lawful resident, is arrested and potentially deported without clear legal justification, it could signal a shift toward selective enforcement of laws based on political expression rather than actual legal violations.

Democratic Principles
The U.S. prides itself on being a nation of laws that apply fairly to all individuals, regardless of immigration status. Arresting and potentially deporting someone for exercising constitutional rights could undermine this principle and shift the country toward authoritarian tendencies.

If cases like Khalil’s become more frequent and accepted, it would establish a legal and social precedent where individuals engaging in activism—whether through protests, advocacy, or public criticism—face punitive measures such as arrests, fines or other forms of repression. This would discourage Americans from exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly out of fear of retaliation. This would stand in direct opposition to the fundamental principles upon which the United States was founded. Including freedom of expression, democracy and the right to challenge authority. This will erode public trust in government institutions and weaken the country’s commitment to upholding civil liberties. This is a warning for all Americans.