Donald Trump Labels Detained Palestinian Student Activist Mahmoud Khalil as ‘Anti-American’ and Signals Potential for More Arrests | US News
Donald Trump claims that a Palestinian student activist, who was apprehended by federal immigration agents, is “anti-American.”
Mahmoud Khalil, a postgraduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, has gained prominence within the university’s pro-Palestinian student activism.
A federal judge in New York City barred Mr. Khalil’s deportation on Monday as the court reviews a lawsuit contesting his detention, with a hearing set for Wednesday.
File pic: AP
Mr. Khalil was taken into custody at his Columbia apartment in Manhattan in front of his eight-month pregnant wife, who is a US citizen, on Saturday evening.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed him that his student visa had been annulled; however, Mr. Khalil has held a US permanent residency green card since 2024, according to his attorney Amy Greer. The Trump administration has yet to disclose the reasons behind Mr. Khalil’s detention or any criminal charges against him.
He has since been relocated to a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana as he prepares for deportation proceedings, according to a US detainee database. Khalil’s legal team has initiated a court challenge against his arrest.
Mahmoud Khalil at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment in Columbia last year. Pic: AP
On Truth Social, Mr. Trump remarked: “ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has successfully apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student at Columbia University.”
The president added that Mr. Khalil’s detention marks the “first arrest of many to come.”
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“This marks the first of many arrests to come. We are aware that additional students at Columbia and universities nationwide have participated in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, and anti-American activities, which the Trump Administration will not tolerate,” he stated.
“Many of these individuals are not students; they are compensated agitators. We will identify, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country – never to return.”
“If you endorse terrorism, including the slaughter of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is against our national and foreign policy interests, and you are unwelcome here. We expect all of America’s Colleges and Universities to comply,” the president continued.
Students have reported seeing federal immigration agents at student housing near Columbia’s Manhattan campus since Thursday, just a day prior to the Trump administration’s announcement of the cancellation of $400 million (£310.7 million) in federal grants and contracts awarded to the university.
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Federal agents are reportedly attempting to detain a second international student, as indicated by the Student Workers of Columbia labor union.
Mr. Trump has criticized Columbia’s management of the protests since reclaiming the White House, asserting that the university has permitted antisemitic harassment “on and near” its grounds.
Mr. Khalil and fellow activists from Columbia University Apartheid Divest have claimed that Jewish students were among the protest organizers, asserting that their criticism of Israel and its support from the US government has been wrongly equated with antisemitism.
In the court challenge to his wrongful detention filed in Manhattan federal court on Sunday, Ms. Greer contended that Mr. Khalil’s arrest was driven by his “criticism of US institutions that support Israel,” which she argued is protected under the first amendment’s right to free speech.
“Even the mere threat of detention and deportation has a chilling effect on free expression,” Ms. Greer noted.
It remains uncertain when Mr. Khalil will appear in immigration court, which is generally the initial step in the deportation process.
Representatives from ICE and DHS did not provide any details regarding his case on Monday.
Typically, initiating the deportation of a permanent resident in the US demands a high standard, such as a criminal conviction for certain offenses.
In January, Mr. Trump enacted an executive order directing the Department of Justice to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”
