Palestinian student protester arrested at Columbia University
NEW YORK: US immigration agents arrested a Palestinian graduate student who has played a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University as part of President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on activists.
Mahmoud Khalil, a student at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested by US Department of Homeland Security agents at his university residence on Saturday evening, the Student Workers of Columbia labor union said in a statement.
His wife is a US citizen, eight months pregnant, and he holds US permanent residency green card, the union said. His arrest was condemned by civil rights groups as an attack on protected political speech.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared a news report of Khalil’s arrest on social media on Sunday, adding the comment: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post that it had arrested Khalil because he has “led activities aligned to Hamas,” without elaborating.
Khalil’s detention is one of the first efforts by Trump to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which he has called antisemitic.
The US-supported Israeli assault on Gaza has led to months of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests that have roiled college campuses in the US and overseas.
Khalil calls it an anti-war movement that includes Jewish students and groups, who reject antisemitism allegations. He was one of the lead negotiators with school administrators for the pro-Palestinian student protesters, who set up tent encampments on Columbia lawns last year and seized control of an academic building for several hours before Columbia called in police to arrest them. He was not among the several dozen students that occupied the building, but was a mediator between Columbia vice provosts and the protesters.
Khalil grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in his native Syria and has worked for the British embassy in Beirut. He was being held at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Trump has singled out Columbia for its handling of student protesters and has quickly increased pressure on the school.
Khalil’s arrest came a day after the Trump administration said it had canceled government contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University worth about $400 million. It said the cuts and the student deportation efforts, which face legal challenges, are because of antisemitic harassment “on and near” Columbia’s Manhattan campus.
In an interview hours before his arrest on Saturday about Trump’s criticism of student protesters, Khalil said he was concerned that he was being targeted by the government for speaking to the media.
“What more can Columbia do to appease Congress or the government now?” Khalil said, noting that Columbia had repeatedly called in police to arrest protesters and had disciplined many pro-Palestinian students and staff, suspending some.
“They basically silenced anyone supporting Palestine on campus and this was not enough. Clearly Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda fighting and attacking higher education and the Ivy League education system.”
Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, said the school was committed to combating antisemitism and other prejudice and was “working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns.”
Columbia issued a revised protocol this week for how students and school staff should deal with federal immigration agents seeking to enter private school property, saying they could enter without a judicial arrest warrant in “exigent circumstances.”
“By allowing ICE on campus, Columbia is surrendering to the Trump administration’s assault on universities across the country and sacrificing international students to protect its finances,” the Student Workers of Columbia said in its statement.