10.03.2025 21:31
Student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. U.S. President Donald Trump stated, "This is the first of many arrests to come."
Student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
It was reported that Khalil, who served as the chief negotiator in discussions with the university administration during the pro-Palestinian protests on campus, had his student visa revoked by the State Department, and subsequently, his green card was rendered invalid.
MISTREATMENT BY U.S. OFFICIALS
When Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, stated that her client held a student visa during the arrest, ICE agents claimed that the visa had been canceled. After Greer pointed out that Khalil had permanent resident status in the U.S., the agents stated that his green card had also been revoked. ICE agents interrogated Khalil and his 8-month-pregnant U.S. citizen wife in their apartment. Attorney Greer reported that officials threatened to arrest Khalil's wife as well and refused to share the arrest warrant.
TRUMP SUPPORTS THE ARREST DECISION
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support for ICE's operation, stating, "Under the executive orders I signed earlier, ICE apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a foreign student sympathetic to Hamas, at Columbia University. Many of them are not students but paid provocateurs. We will find these sympathizers, apprehend them, and deport them from our country never to return. This is the first of many arrests to come."
WHAT HAPPENED?
In January, Trump signed an executive order introducing new regulations aimed at deporting individuals he described as "Hamas sympathizers on university campuses." He also announced that he would revoke federal funding for universities that allowed pro-Palestinian protests. The Trump administration had withdrawn hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support from many educational institutions, including Columbia University.