US President Donald Trump on Monday described Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University in New York who has helped to lead pro-Palestine protests, as “pro-Hamas”. Efforts to deport the activist were temporarily halted by a federal judge.
Mr Khalil was detained at the weekend and is facing deportation due to his part in the wave of protests that swept the university last year.
The President called Mr Khalil a “radical foreign pro-Hamas student” on his Truth Social platform and said his arrest was the “first arrest of many to come”.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” he wrote. “We will find, apprehend and deport these terrorist sympathisers from our country – never to return again.”
A federal judge in New York issued on order temporarily blocking Mr Khalil's deportation on Monday evening. He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
As the lead negotiator between protesting students and the university administration, Mr Khalil became one of the most visible activists in last year’s rallies. He is among students being investigated by a new Columbia office that has already brought disciplinary charges against dozens of people linked to pro-Palestinian activism, AP reports.
He received a master’s degree from Columbia’s school of international affairs last term. His wife, a US citizen, is eight months pregnant and was present at the time of his arrest.
The couple were reportedly returning from an iftar meal when agents forced their way into their building. One told Mr Khalil's lawyer by phone that they were carrying out a State Department order to revoke his student visa. Informed that Mr Khalil was a permanent US resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that, too.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Mr Khalil's arrest and told The National he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation”.
“ICE [the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency] and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting US national security,” she said.
Mr Khalil is being held in an immigration detention centre in Louisiana after initially being sent to a centre in New Jersey, according to the ICE online detainee database, which lists his birthplace as Syria.
Mr Khalil's arrest has outraged the activist community, with demonstrators planning a protest at New York's Federal Plaza to demand his release. In Washington, dozens of protesters gathered at DHS headquarters calling for Mr Khalil's release, with demonstrators then marching to the ICE building.
Faculty and staff at Columbia, in addition to Jewish community leaders and immigrant rights advocates, held a media conference decrying Mr Khalil's arrest.
Nadia Abu El Haj, an anthropologist at Barnard College and Columbia University, told reporters Mr Khalil was “a mature and gentle human being and a politically sophisticated thinker”.
“Mahmoud tried to negotiate a resolution between students and the Barnard administration last week during a sit-in and he was filmed participating in that sit-in or being present there. And as a result, various people tweeted, including one of our colleagues, who directly asked for his arrest and deportation,” she said.
She later told The National: “It sets a really dangerous precedent that puts not just Palestinians at risk and pro-Palestinian activists, but ultimately, is going to be used against all sorts of activists in this country. This is not the rule of law. There are no substantive accusations against Mahmoud Khalil. There is no evidence against him of ever having broken the law. So why is he being abducted?”
Ms Abu El Haj expressed concerns about the broader implications of the situation at Columbia, saying it could be "ground zero" where students will be made an example of. She also criticised the narratives being allowed to develop on campus.
“This started a year and a half ago. We shouldn't have gotten here. They've allowed the narrative to develop that Jewish students 'are not safe on campus’, which is completely untrue," Ms Abu El Haj said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement: “The unlawful detention of Mr Khalil reeks of McCarthyism. It’s clear that the Trump administration is selectively punishing Mr Khalil for expressing views that aren’t Maga [Make America Great Again] approved – which is a frightening escalation of Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech and an aggressive abuse of immigration law.”
Jewish activist organisation J Street said in a statement: "For an administration that claims to care about free speech, Mahmoud Khalil's arrest, detainment and threat of deportation is yet another regressive, anti-democratic step toward authoritarianism."
New York Jewish Agenda, which describes its group as "liberal and progressive Zionists" echoed the words of other groups, stating they have "defended those with whom we disagree" adding "This kind of sweeping authoritarian action, violating the rights of others, in the name of combating antisemitism is the height of hypocrisy and will not make us safer."
Ahmed Issawy contributed to this report
