By West Side Rag
A former Columbia University student who helped lead the pro-Palestine protests on campus against Israel last spring was arrested over the weekend at his Morningside Heights apartment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security and multiple publications, including the Associated Press, CNN, and the New York Post.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University until the end of last semester, was in his Columbia-owned apartment with his wife on Saturday night, when multiple federal immigration officers took him into custody, according to the AP, which was the first publication to report on the matter.
Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, told the AP that the agents allegedly first said to her that they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa, but after they were informed he had a permanent residency green card, the agents then said they were revoking that.
“On March 9, 2025, in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student,” Homeland Security wrote Sunday on the social media platform X. “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security.”
The arrest comes after Trump promised earlier this month to deport or imprison foreign students who took part in “illegal protests” at schools across the country.
Khalil was originally sent to a detention center in New Jersey, before being transported to a facility in Louisiana. He played prominent roles in pro-Palestine protests on the Morningside Heights campus last school year, and also served as a student-negotiator during the tent encampment that took place last spring, according to the AP.
Columbia University has not returned any publication’s request for comment, or released a statement on Khalil’s arrest.
You can read more about this developing story — HERE.
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I’m no Hamas defender, by any means. But this wreaks of the 50’s’ Red Scare. We still have a constitution, albeit jammed in a paper shredder in the Oval Office
One of the requirements of a Green Card holder is to obey all laws of the United States and localities.
He’s here legally and with a legal right to remain here. This is a rules based system. Kicking him out is plainly wrong. Once the courts catch up, I wish him all the best in suing ICE.
Which laws were broken?
And the Constitution says what regarding a green card being revoked and a foreigner being detained?
The constitutional right to speak extends to ‘persons,’ not just citizens.
If he hasn’t committed a crime he shouldn’t be deported.
Have you heard about the patriot act? I advise you to read it today, regardless of your opinions about it.
The FIRST AMENDMENT says the government cannot discriminate against anyone in the country for political speech… unbelievable people are cheering for this.
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(B), a non-citizen (even a Green Card holder) can be removed from the U.S. without due process if they are deemed to have engaged in terrorism-related activities. So lets the judge decide, we shall see.
God only knows who came in during Bidens open boarder, Terrorists, Criminals and who knows what, like him or hate him Trump is fixing stuff.
Lols. It is funny how Trumpsters say Biden “opened the borders.” More people came in under Trump than Biden. Biden deported the most people in US history. It was the conservative Supreme Court that prevented Biden from closing the boarder even more.
You’re experiencing a serious disconnect from reality by whitewashing what happened at the border during the Biden Administration. You’re going to have a rough 4 years.
Correct
Trump is fixing things for sure- grocery prices have risen since January 20th, and our 401K retirement accounts lost a fortune today.
He was here with valid green card.
Why do you always post such ignorance?
Biden obeyed the asylum law. Trump thinks he’s not bound by law/s.
Wait, you think Biden opened the boarder by accident? WOW. And I post Ignorance? No person on earth can’t see, Biden was not running the country we don’t know yet who was. but we will.
Biden obey the law, why is that so hard for you to comprehend?
“Accident” has nothing to do with it.
Distractions about Biden’s mental incompetence — evident since 2018 at least — don’t validate anything you’ve posted.
FYI it’s border. Not boarder.
Correct.
While green card holders enjoy many of the same rights as U.S. citizens, they can still face deportation under certain conditions, typically for criminal behavior or violations of immigration law.
Foreign nationals can also lose their visas for endorsing or being associated with terrorist groups, but only if the government can provide material evidence.
Furthermore, status can be revoked if the applicant has been found to lie on any of the green card application questions. Many of the questions as I recall on mine were about crimes & affiliation with terrorist groups. It may be difficult to prove affiliation (vs stupidity) but I’m surprised no one is mentioning this.
And there’s a process for that. But that’s not what Trump has followed here.
It’s difficult to respond because MAga people tend to post sensationalized charges that they don’t bother to fact check or validate. But to counter these charges, one has to painstakingly lookup each one.
“lies can travel halfway around the world before the truth hs put on its boots.
Have you befriended Mr Khalil at the many pro-Hamas protests you boast of having participated in?
Murray,
It’s staggering that this website continues to post hate and ignorance like yours.
The modern version is Brandolini’s law: “The amount of energy needed to refute bullsh*t is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.”
That’s why sensationalized MAGA nonsense is everywhere
UWS Dad, what is your problem with making America great again?
This choice by Trump further degrades the USA.
What does pardoning violent rioters, tariffing our allies and stomping all over the first amendment have to do with making America great?
That’s why Trump is President he knows what he’s doing.
Really? Very telling that’s all you can offer, just lovely that our country is being run by a personality cult…
Because responding to bleeding heart social justice warriors that define their entire existence through virtue signaling isn’t difficult… Take a chill pill, still 46 months to go, you will survive.
A green card is a privilege, not a right. A green card can be taken away if the holder violates the law.
This individual participated in unlawful and disruptive protests. He unambiguously praised Hamas.
We have every right to take away his “valid green card”.
And there’s a process for taking away a green card, Trump is not following the law here.
The protests are NOT unlawful. That you call them that means your understanding of the Constitution is nil.
So what if he praised Hamas? That is not a crime. If he DID commit a crime – he should be charged with such. But there is still (for now at least) something called “due process” in this country, and yes, it applies to green card holders.
Praising Hamas is arguably not a crime but praising and supporting violent attacks is not free speech.
“unambiguously praised Hamas”
The government has provided no evidence in support of that claim and you have no idea if that’s true yet you all are parroting this nonsense just because you disagree with the protests. Shameful and unAmerican behavior.
How do you know they don’t have evidence? Why do you mock others’ supposed assumptions while maintaining your own? If you check the internet even we can see what Khalil supports so why assume the govt doesn’t have more? One doesn’t have to align with trump (who I find abhorrent) to consider that this person might have supported hamas which under the LAW is enough for deportation. You are still stuck in your free speech mantra but this isn’t about that. That’s propaganda. And again, I don’t support trump so please don’t waste your time accusing me of that.
Because the government hasn’t presented it.
Anyhow, you’re allowed to say “I support Hamas attacking Israel”, you’re not then allowed to send money to Hamas. But you can send money to the other party.
Agree. He aligns with a terrorist group that vows to kill all Jews. And he’s not a citizen.
But he has his defenders among progressives, who claim to care about equity, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ rights while championing a person who supports a regime that would kill all of those people.
Hamas does NOT vow to kill all Jews.
But there are plenty in the Israel government who vow to kill all Palestinians, including Israeli citizens. So therefore by your “understanding” it is criminal to support Israel.
Free speech and due process are still things in this country (at least for now).
Support of a designated terrorist organization sounds like a quick and easy way to get your green card revoked. Who was paying his tuition?
Freedom of speech applies. You’ll have to find MATERIAL support.
I don’t care about what this guy stands for, but if you have documentation and the current regime decides to revoke it because they don’t like your politics, this is a very scary and dangerous precedent they are setting. I don’t think it’s really set in, even for Trump supporters, just how scary and draconian the next 4 years are going to be.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
…..Pastor Martin Niemöller
Current regime? LOL. And you finally got to use draconian !! Keep writing your own narratives and what the hell, fill in the blanks as well.
No, this specific incident is not scary or dangerous. If he had been leading protests supporting ISIS no one would bat an eye. Hamas is an internationally recognized terrorist organization. He helped lead protests displaying their slogans. The groups he led harassed students , blocked access to the campus. It emboldened others out there to take over and vandalize a building. In the future when students decide where to go to college, if their investment portfolios are a factor, research them before applying. You don’t like what they do then don’t apply. Buh bye.
Everyone has documents, the question is which documents? Green cards can be revoked, and citizenship has been stripped from people in the past. I do not know the immigration law, but supporting a terrorist organization that also advocates mass murder perhaps violates it? Do we want people to come to this country who support terrorism?
Is he a citizen of the United States?
This is really appalling — does anyone know how to contact Columbia University and place complaints about the university’s actions here, as well as their continued closing of the campus passage to the public?
I suggest you use TruthSocial Trump will read if you ask him and have a clear question. he does respond. He has some influence at Columbia.
Coming to pick up a legal permanent resident at his Manhattan home on Sunday night and flying him to Louisiana the same night. What a great use of your taxpayer money!! Unlike veteran medical care, cancer research, and tuberculosis medications.
@Jay, @Claire and others:
Green card IS a visa. Any visa can be revoked due to unlawful behavior.
Not sans due process. So far no one has provided evidence of unlawful behavior.
According to AP, a second student was also targeted, also without warrant, but the agents could not gain entry. Khalil was sent to an undisclosed location, unknown to either his lawyer or 8-month pregnant wife for days. These abductions are lawless and portend a very dark future if not vigorously rebuked. If anyone said even a few years ago that political dissidents would be disappeared in the dark of night it would have seemed over the top, yet here we are, and Trump promises “many more to come.” Bleak.
So in the two years he has been in the US, he has graduated, married, got his wife 8 months pregnant and participated in numerous protests. He however has not gotten a job. How is he going to support his future child and his wife, or is the plan to have the taxpayers support his family while he protests? There is a public charge law on the books by the way, unless I am mistaken.
W.D., is a non-citizen who promotes terrorist organizations in our country really a “political dissident”? That is way too benign a description.
Once they label calling an end to the indiscrimate murder of tens of thousands of civilians with our tax dollars as “support for Hamas” they can have their propaganda repeated for them all over the internet that this guy was a terrorist supporter. Btw even if he was, yelling slogans is still free speech, and even if it wasn’t covered under 1A, arresting people without due process and just because some unhinged people like Shai D. called for their deportation is illegal. Was illegal until now.
In any case this should do wonders for stopping the rise of antisemitism.
Too subtle for the Trump defenders here.
I don’t remember you and others protesting Assad murdering hundreds of thousands of people! People die in wars, that’s what happens unfortunately. If Mr Khalil, and others were so concerned with the civilians, they’d demand that Hamas surrender, rather than a ceasefire until Hamas attacks again!
Hmm I forget, was our government providing arms to Assad? Or to Israel?
So you wouldn’t protest against Israel if the US didn’t supply arms to Israel? You can’t have it both ways.
Stopping the rise in ‘civil terrorism’ seems like a good idea to me!
https://www.city-journal.org/article/civil-terrorism-anti-israel-radicals?utm_source=virtuous&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cjdaily&vcrmeid=rrWNOvtSAElsXE485KMhw&vcrmiid=vggP4PrVeU2LpeB35rM6kw
He broke the law. That is a requirement to maintain your citizenship is that you will not break any laws.
What law?
What law did he break?
Illegal occupation of a campus building.
So he was not a US citizen (resident) and instigating violence for an INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TERRORIST group at at a premiere US university—of course he should be thrown out—what is so hard for some of you dead enders on the west side to understand? They’re not coming for you —just lowlifes like him
The obvious problem is the redefinition of ‘protesting against Israel’s actions’ as ‘instigating violence.’ There’s no crime that that has been cited but so how are you so sure he was instigating violence?
Of course the illegal January 6th protesters who are literally Nazi’s were pardoned by the orange blob.
I always tried to imagine what 1930s Germany was like. Now I know for certain, “good” people allowed evil to trump all else.
The TDS infecting the UWS is just remarkable.
Trump: “I want to protect Jews. The virulent antisemitism at places like Columbia must be attacked. I want to protect Jews”
The Left / typical UWS resident: “What a Nazi! We’re literally living in Nazi Germany right now!”
There is a procedure for revoking a green card; it is not something that can be done (legally) by fiat or at the whim of a a government official. The federal government’s flouting of law is breathtaking.