On Saturday, ICE arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia student who just graduated with a Master's Degree in December. Khalil had been a lead negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the pro-Hamas group which took over a campus building last spring and which has been involved in other acts of vandalism and campus disruptions already this year.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia until this past December, was inside his university-owned apartment Saturday night when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.
Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the lawyer...
The Department of Homeland Security can initiate deportation proceedings against green card holders for a broad range of alleged criminal activity, including supporting a terror group. But the detention of a legal permanent resident who has not been charged with a crime marked an extraordinary move with an uncertain legal foundation, according to immigration experts.
Secretary Rubio posted this on X:
We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported https://t.co/oKba2Mmi3C
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 9, 2025
Khalil became the face of the pro-Hamas group at Columbia during the previous academic year and acted as the lead negotiator for CUAD when the school demanded they removed their tents.
When you see people gnashing their teeth and rending their garments over the arrest and potential deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, one of the lead Hamas acolytes at Columbia University, show them this thread of his greatest hits 🧵 pic.twitter.com/0neyS1mDGv
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 10, 2025
Here he is giving an interview to the Hamas affiliated Quds News Network:
In an interview (apparently with the Hamas-aligned Quds News Network, but somehow in New York) pic.twitter.com/GtOXQFTW0Q
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 10, 2025
More recently, he was also a leader of the takeover of the Barnard library.
🚨SUSPECTED FOREIGN NATIONAL ALERT🚨
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) March 6, 2025
Mahmoud Khalil, allegedly from Syria, is a grad student at Columbia. Khalil appeared to be the lead negotiator for the Barnard College library occupation yesterday. He took the same role at the Columbia encampment & was suspended. pic.twitter.com/sMQ5aw7kZd
This is the literature being distributed at the library takeover last week. There's no doubt this group is openly pro-Hamas.
— David lederer (@Davidlederer6) March 6, 2025
Last summer, as pressure ramped up on Columbia to take more aggressive action against the group, a new disciplinary committee was formed which began looking more closely at the activity of students involved in CUAD. Khalil was one of those students.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who served as a negotiator for pro-Palestinian protesters during the previous spring’s encampment, said he was accused by the office of misconduct just weeks before his graduation this December. “I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I had nothing to do with,” he said.
After refusing to sign the nondisclosure agreement, Khalil said the university put a hold on his transcript and threatened to block him from graduating. But when he appealed the decision through a lawyer, they eventually backed down, Khalil said.
“They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they’re doing something, regardless of the stakes for students,” Khalil said. “It’s mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech.”
Again, Pro-Palestinian speech in this case means pro-Hamas and pro-terrorism speech. The mask has come off this group and they are no longer hiding their support for the 10/7 attack.
Campus propaganda for Hamas should be treated as material support for a designated foreign terror organization. Period. pic.twitter.com/qMpaL8zqsU
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) March 9, 2025
Still, there is a question being raised about whether or not this arrest by ICE violates Khalil's right to free speech as a green card holder.
STATEMENT: FIRE is monitoring reports about Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and detention and seeking to learn more.
— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) March 9, 2025
Anyone facing arrest and detention must be afforded due process. Just as students and other demonstrators are obliged to abide by lawful rules of conduct, our government… pic.twitter.com/PWvsz4jQo4
The law seems to suggest that any alien espousing support for a designated terrorist group can be deported.
Really straightforward why Mahmoud Khalil is getting deported
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) March 10, 2025
You don’t get to endorse or espouse terrorist activity as a non-citizen - even if you have a green card
Bye bye pic.twitter.com/YovqMGYxbe
Others are suggesting that Khalil isn't being deported for his speech but for his actions, i.e. the numerous acts of vandalism and trespassing committed by CUAD. However, Khalil hasn't been arrested or charged with any of those actions, though he was suspended by Columbia after the takeover of Hamilton Hall last spring.
CUAD hasn't posted anything on the group's Instagram account about the arrest, which seems odd since he is one of the group's leaders. However another group is promoting an "emergency mobilization" in NYC this afternoon to demand his release.
🚨NYC: EMERGENCY MOBILIZATION TOMORROW!
— The People's Forum (@PeoplesForumNYC) March 9, 2025
Join us in the streets to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist and recent Columbia graduate, who was abducted from his home by DHS agents last night and is now in ICE detention.
We demand the immediate… pic.twitter.com/8rZqf9dVRm
The group has started a petition and claims that over a million people have signed, however the petition specifically warns non-citizens not to use their real names. So I wonder how much of this is being astroturfed by a much smaller number of people. I guess we'll see how large the protest is later today. (The protest is set for 4pm.)
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