On Saturday, March 8, immigration enforcement agents arrested 30-year-old Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Palestinian activist, who helped lead protests and pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last spring.
Khalil was detained by officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security late Saturday night. Officials told Khalil and his wife, who was with him during the arrest, that he was being detained because his student visa had been revoked. According to Khalil’s attorneys, Khalil’s wife, a legal U.S. citizen, provided documents to the agents that he was a green card holder. However, the agents told the couple that his card was also being revoked and proceeded to take him away in handcuffs.
According to AP News, “the Department of Homeland Security, confirming his arrest Saturday, accused Khalil of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” Three days later, the White House elaborated more, claiming Khalil also organized protests where pro-Hamas propaganda was dispensed. To this, Samah Sisay, one of Khalil’s lawyers, said that the White House holds no evidence against his client that they could use to support their claim that Khalil was involved in any kind of terrorist organization.
Now, the White House has been pressuring Columbia University as it seeks to deport more pro-Palestinian activists and has been complaining that the college is refusing to help federal agents track down any more activists who attend the university. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Columbia has been receiving student names and was asked by the Department of Homeland Security to help identify the individuals, to which Columbia refused. The administration has started to punish the school by taking federal research dollars, which universities rely heavily on for their students’ supplies, equipment, and salaries.
A letter was sent to the students of Columbia University by Interim President Katrina Armstrong; the Associated Press was referred to that same letter by a spokesperson from Columbia. The letter included Columbia’s response to the White House’s demands and the public’s questions. “We will follow the law, as has always been the case, and rumors suggesting that any member of Columbia leadership requested the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on or near campus are false,” the letter stated. A couple of weeks ago, the Trump administration accused the school of failing to stop antisemitism, while also announcing they were now pulling $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia. The National Institutes of Health said they will cut more than $250 million in funding; those funds included more than 400 grants. A grant is a financial award designed to fund specific projects or initiatives. Grants are typically given out by the government or organization, and unlike loans, grants do not need to be repaid.
It is unknown what will happen to Khalil, but the Trump administration has filed a document that includes them seeking to deport Khalil, NBC News quoted from an obtained document that the administration has been saying he is “subject to removal from the United States.” In the document, the Department of Homeland Security cited immigration law which includes a statement that the secretary of state holds the authority to deport someone if it was determined that the person “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
Khalil was notified and told to appear before an Immigration judge for deportation proceedings. For those who hold a green card, deportation proceedings are handled in the Immigration Court system, where the immigration judge would ultimately decide if that individual gets deported or not. In one case, a federal judge temporarily blocked Khalil from being deported, saying he would remain in the US as the court debates for a final decision. That case is separate from the proceeding Khalil will face in the Immigration Court. Several arguments have stirred between Khalil’s lawyers and the Trump administration regarding Khalil’s case and where he should be held for the time being.
Khalil’s arrest, in turn, has sparked several planned protests across the nation. The protests were not led just by students of Columbia University but were planned in cities such as New York City, Boston, Phoenix, Charlotte, North Carolina, Oklahoma City, Miami, Indianapolis, and more. Several dozen protesters gathered in Times Square on March 15 in the afternoon and were seen waving Palestinian flags and wearing traditional Palestinian clothing. The protesters repeatedly shouted, “Release Mahmoud right now!”
Grant Miller, the president of a union representing thousands of Columbia student workers who were fired and expelled, addressed the crowd. “We must stand up together to tell Trump and his billionaire buddies that we’re not going to stand for this intimidation and the backsliding of civil rights in this country,” he said while describing Khalil’s detention as “a campaign of fear.”
Immigration authorities are holding the 30-year-old in an ICE processing center where he remains as his attorneys fight against his detention. His wife, who is an American citizen and 8 months pregnant, has spoken to Khalil’s defense council. “I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby,” she said to the council. “I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world.”
Khalil’s case will likely take time to debate when discussing the outcome of his arrest. Whether he is to be deported, or if he remains in the US and faces possible punishment.
This is developing news, and there will be pending updates.
Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-440828980a4ee7bf4ddcf3d123e02b3e
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mahmoud-khalil-nationwide-protests-rcna196565
