Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil detained by ICE
A prominent Palestinian activist who played a key role in the recent pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University is now facing deportation following his arrest by federal immigration authorities over the weekend.
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Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate who completed his master’s degree in international affairs in December, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed his arrest, citing President Donald Trump’s executive orders prohibiting antisemitism as the basis for their actions. Khalil has not been formally charged with any crime.
Significant Support
The arrest has sparked significant support, particularly given Khalil’s leadership in campus demonstrations and his outspoken criticism of U.S. policies in the Middle East.
Khalil is currently being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana after initially being transferred from a facility in New Jersey, according to ICE’s online detainee database. The database lists his birthplace as Syria, a country still facing significant turmoil due to years of civil war and conflict.
The arrest comes as the U.S. cracks down on anti-semitism on college campuses. Protests at Columbia and other universities have sown terror into the US students, preventing Jewish students from attending class, disrupting the peace and damaging campuses supported by US taxpayer dollars.
Trump Says First of Many Arrests
President Trump spoke about it on his TRUTH Social account suggesting further arrests are coming this week. “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. This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here. We expect every one of America’s Colleges and Universities to comply. Thank you!
Khalil’s legal team is reportedly exploring options to challenge his detention and deportation, citing concerns over due process and “potential risks” he could face if sent back to Syria.
