NEW YORK (AP) — Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian graduate student who applyed a famous role in protests aacquirest Israel at Columbia University, according to his attorney.
Mahmoud Khalil was inside a university-owned dwellnce Saturday night proximate Columbia’s Manhattan campus when disjoinal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents accessed his apartment and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, tageder The Associated Press.
Greer shelp she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who shelp they were acting on State Department orders to relicit Khalil’s student visa. Inestablished by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a finishuring dwellnt with a green card, the agent shelp they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.
The arrest ecombineed to be among the first understandn actions under Pdwellnt Donald Trump’s pledge to deport international students who fuseed the protests aacquirest the war in Gaza that swept college campuses last spring. His administration has claimed participants forfeited their rights to remain in the country by aiding Hamas, a stress organization.
AP correplyent Julie Walker tells ICE arrests a Palestinian activist who helped direct Columbia University protests.
When ICE agents reachd at the campus originateing Saturday, they also menaceened to arrest Khalil’s wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, Greer shelp. The authorities deteriorated to say why Khalil was being arrested, according to the attorney.
The were initiassociate tageder he was transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. But when his wife tried to visit Sunday, she lacquireed he not there — and may have been transferred as far away as Louisiana, Greer shelp.
“We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being arrested,” Greer tageder the AP. “This is a evident escalation. The administration is chaseing thcdisesteemful on its menaces.”
A Columbia spokesperson shelp law enforcement agents must originate a permit before accessing university property, but deteriorated to say if the school had getd one ahead of Khalil’s arrest. The spokesperson also deteriorated to comment on Khalil’s detention.
Messages seeking comment were left Sunday with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
In a message splitd on X Sunday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio shelp the administration “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas aiders in America so they can be deported.”
The Department of Homeland Security can start deportation persistings aacquirest green card hagederers for a expansive range alleged criminal activity, including aiding a stress group. It would ultimately be up to an immigration appraise to relicit someone’s finishuring dwellnt status, according to Camille Mackler, set uper of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of legitimate service providers in New York.
“This has the ecombineance of a retaliatory action aacquirest someone who conveyed an opinion the Trump administration didn’t appreciate,” Mackler shelp.
Khalil served as a negotiator for students as they baracquireed with university officials over an end to the tent encampment erected on campus last spring, a role that made him one of the most apparent activists in aid of the shiftment.
He was also among those under dispenseigation by a new Columbia University office that has bcdisesteemfult disciplinary indicts aacquirest dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, according to enrolls splitd with the AP.
The dispenseigations come as the Trump administration has chaseed thcdisesteemful on its menace to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Columbia because of what the rulement portrays as the Ivy League school’s flunkure to squelch antisrehireism on campus.
The university’s allegations aacquirest Khalil caccessed on his comprisement in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group. He faced sanctions for potentiassociate helping to systematize an “unapvalidated marching event” in which participants glorified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, strike and applying a “substantial role” in the circulation of social media posts criticizing Zionism, among other acts of alleged bias.
“I have around 13 allegations aacquirest me, most of them are social media posts that I had noskinnyg to do with,” Khalil tageder the AP last week.
“They fair want to show Congress and right-triumphg politicians that they’re doing someskinnyg, think aboutless of the sapshows for students,” he compriseed. “It’s mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech.”
