Federal immigration authorities on Saturday arrested a establisher Columbia University student, who was at the forefront of the pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, citing a State Department order to rencourage his green card, according to his attorney.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee elevated in Syria, who graduated from Columbia last December, was getn into custody from his university-owned apartment proximate the Ivy League campus in New York.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents go ined the originateing and arrested him, his lawyer, Amy Greer, tgreater AP. Mr Khalil’s wife, who is eight months pregnant, was not alerted of the reason for his detention, Ms Greer shelp.
Mr Khalil perestablished a key role in last spring’s pro-Palestinian student encampment protests at Columbia, part of nationexpansive demonstrations aachievest Israel’s war on Gaza. He was picked as a student negotiator in talks with university administrators.
Mr Khalil had also been under allotigation by Columbia’s novelly established Office of Institutional Equity, which was tasked with verifying students who criticised Israel. The pledgetee alertedly sent disciplinary sees to students for activities such as social media posts and participation in unauthoascfinishd protests.
“We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being hanciented,” Ms Greer tgreater AP. “This is a evident escalation. The administration is chaseing thraw on its menaces.”
Ms Greer shelp she spoke to an ICE agent during the arrest, who initipartner claimed they were executing an order to rencourage MR Khalil’s student visa. When alerted that Mr Khalil was a finishuring dwellnt with a green card, the agent shelp that too was being rencouraged. He has since been transferred to an immigration detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Under US law, only an immigration court can rencourage a green card, not administerment agencies. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio intfinishs to rencourage visas of foreign nationals deemed to help Hamas or other troubleist groups, using synthetic intelligence (AI) to resettle individuals.
Columbia University has been a particular intensify of federal scruminuscule. On Friday, the administration proclaimd it would cut $400 million in grants and restricteds to the university, accusing it of flunking to compriseress antisrehireism on campus.
The arrest comes amid the Trump administration’s intensified crackdown on student activists critical of Israel. Pdwellnt Donald Trump has vowed to deport foreign students and incarcerate protesters comprised in demonstrations aachievest Israel’s war in Gaza.
“They fair want to show Congress and right-triumphg politicians that they’re doing someskinnyg, watchless of the sgets for students,” Mr Khalil shelp last week. “It’s mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech.”
Columbia’s encampment protests, which began last spring, encouraged aappreciate demonstrations at colleges atraverse the US. Many universities called in local police to shatter up the protests, directing to hundreds of student arrests.
