Arrest raises questions about rights of non-Americans to protest the goverment
US authorities arrest Palestinian student protester at Columbia University
Agents from President Donald Trump’s administration have arrested Palestinian graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who played a prominent role in last year’s pro-Palestinian protests at New York’s Columbia University.
President Donald Trump Monday cheered the arrest of a leader of the pro-Palestinian student protest movement, saying the man’s activism was anti-American, and promised more detentions to come.
Immigration enforcement agents arrested Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil on Sunday, accusing him of leading unspecified activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Khalil’s attorneys said he is a green card holder married to a pregnant American citizen, and are challenging the validity of the arrest and detention.
Khalil’s arrest is the latest move by the Trump administration to make good on campaign promises to punish student protesters and universities the president argues have tolerated or encouraged anti-American and anti-Jewish sentiment during pro-Palestinian protests.
But it also raises questions about the rights of immigrants and refugees to criticize the U.S. government with speech and actions that are typically protected by the First Amendment. A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday and ordered ICE not to deport Khalil beforehand.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump said in a social media post. “We will find apprehend and deport these terrorist supervisors from our country ‒ never to return again.”
The official White House social media account on X reposted Trump’s message under the heading “SHALOM, MAHMOUD.” In Hebrew, the word “shalom” can be used as a greeting or a farewell.
Columbia, in New York City, was the site of significant protests, student encampments and other activities last spring and summer criticizing Israel for attacking Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Khalil served as a spokesman for protesters and negotiated with university officials over the encampment.
Khalil, then a graduate student at the School of International and Public Affairs, said last April that he had initially been reluctant to speak out on behalf of Palestinian students over fears he could be deported. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was scheduled to have graduated in December with a Master’s degree in Public Administration.
Many university campuses saw similar protests that also criticized the Biden administration for not doing more to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza, with some participants calling it a genocide.
Many conservatives aligned with Israel were particularly offended by the protest chant “globalize the intifada,” which they interpret to mean encouraging violence against all Jews. Trump has repeatedly said he would use federal power to punish protests he feels crossed the line from free speech to threats of violence, echoing his stance from the 2020 George Floyd protests.
Khalil’s attorneys said Trump officials have not provided any specific evidence that he committed a crime, and have demanded more details, including a warrant or other documentation. ICE records show Khalil was born in Syria, and he has often spoken about growing up with Palestinian ancestry in a refugee camp.
“We will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud’s rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable – and calculated – wrong committed against him,” attorney Amy Greer said in a statement. “ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud follows the U.S. government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
ICE records show Khalil is being held in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. Khalil’s supporters protested his detention outside a federal facility in New York City on Monday afternoon.
Khalil’s arrest also drew swift condemnation from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said he was arrested in his Columbia University-owned apartment in front of his pregnant wife.
“The Department of Homeland Security’s lawless decision to arrest him solely because of his peaceful anti-genocide activism represents a blatant attack on the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, immigration laws, and the very humanity of Palestinians,” CAIR said in a statement.
Columbia University declined to comment on the arrest.
The Trump administration on Friday canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over what officials said was the university’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Trump Justice Department officials are investigating similar allegations at 59 other universities, including: George Washington University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Northwestern University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota and the University of Southern California.