Federal immigration authorities arrested the Palestinian activist on Saturday, playing a prominent role in the protests of Columbia University against Israel, which is a significant escalation in the pledge of Trump administration for custody and deportation of student activists.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student in Columbia until last December, was in his university apartment on Saturday night, when several immigration and customs agents (ICE) went in custody, his lawyer Amy Greer for Associated Press.
Greer said that she spoke to one of the agents of ICE during his arrest, who said they were acting on a state department’s orders to recall Khalil’s student visa. The lawyer informed that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident of a green card, the agent said that it was recalled, according to a lawyer.
The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Internal Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed Khalil’s arrest in a statement on Sunday, describing it as “in support of the executive commands of President Trump who forbids anti -Semitism.”
Khalil’s arrest is the first publicly well-known effort to deport under Trump’s promised conflict to students who joined the protests against the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza, who swallowed the Faculty Campuses last spring. The administration claimed that the participants had taken their rights to remain in the country by supporting Hamas.
McLaughlin hinted that the arrest was directly related to Khalil’s role in protests, claiming that he “led the activities aligned with Hamas, a particular terrorist organization.”
While Ice agents arrived at the residence of Khalil on Manhattan on Saturday night, they also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, Greer said.
Lawyer, wife does not know Khalil’s current location
Khalil’s lawyer said they were initially informed that he was held in custody for immigration in Elizabeth, Nj, but when his wife tried to visit on Sunday, she learned that he was gone. Greer said she still didn’t know Khalil’s where he had been herself from Sunday night.
“We couldn’t get more details about why he was detained,” Greer told AP. “This is a clear escalation. The administration follows its threats.”
The Columbia University spokesman said that law enforcement agents must produce an order before entering university property, but refused to say if the school had received one before the arrest of Khalil. A spokesman refused to comment on Khalil’s custody.
In a message that was divided into X on Sunday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration “would revoke visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they could deport them.”
The Homeland Security Department may initiate a deportation procedure against green card owners for a wide range of alleged criminal activities, including support of the terrorist group. However, the detention of a legal permanent resident who has not been charged with the crime has marked an extraordinary move with an uncertain legal foundation, according to immigration experts.
Arrested for ‘expressing opinions’
“This is the appearance of retaliation against someone who expressed the opinion that Trump’s administration did not like it,” said Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of legal services providers in New York.
Khalil, who acquired his master’s degree at Columbia’s School of International Affairs of the Last Semester, served as a negotiator for students while negotiating with university officials for the end of the tent camp erected on the campus last spring.
The role made him one of the most visible activists in favor of the movement, which has prompted the calls of pro-Israeli activists in recent weeks to start the deportation procedure against him.
Khalil was also among those under the investigation of the new office of Columbia University who filed disciplinary accusations against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, according to records divided by Associate Press.
Investigations come that Trump’s administration has followed a threat to reduce hundreds of millions of dollars of Columbia financing because of what the Government describes as the failure of the school Ivy League to swallow anti -Semitism in campus.
The university allegations against Khalil focused on his involvement in the group of Apartheid University of Columbia. He faced sanctions on the potential aiding in organizing a “unauthorized marching event” in which participants were charged with the glory of Hamas on October 7, 2023, attacking and playing a “significant role” in the circulation of posts on social media criticizing Zionism, among other acts of alleged discrimination.
“I have about 13 charges against me, most of them are posts on social media that I had nothing to do with,” Khalil said last week Associated Press.
“They just want to show Congress and right -wing politicians to do something, regardless of the roles for students,” he added. “It is mostly a refrigeration office of the Pro-Palestinian speech.”
