New York (AP) – A prominent Palestinian activist who supported Lead protest Columbia University faces deportation After his arrest by federal immigration agents over the weekend.
Mahmoud Khalil, a college graduate in December, was arrested on Saturday by immigration and customs enforcement agents. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, saying it was the result of President Donald Trump’s order banning anti-Semitism. He has not been formally charged with a crime.
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is on the Columbia University campus in New York on April 29, 2024 at the pro-Palestinian protest camp.
Halil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agent who detained him in a university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed he was acting under a State Department order to revoke his student visa. However, when Greer informed them that Halil is a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would instead cancel the document.
The American Council on Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights advocacy group, said on Monday it was working with Halil’s lawyers and called for immediate release.
Halil is a “legal permanent resident of our country and has not been charged or convicted of a single crime,” the Washington-based group said in a statement. “The Department of Homeland Security’s lawless decision to arrest him just for his peaceful anti-Genosidic activities represents a blatant attack on freedom of speech, immigration law and the First Amendment guarantee of the very humanity of the Palestinians.”
Federal immigration authorities also visited Colombia’s second international student over the weekend to try to detain her, but were prevented from entering the apartment, according to a union representing the students. The woman was not identified and it is not clear what basis was given by ICE for the visit.
Three ice agents visited her university-owned residence on Friday night and tried to enter without a warrant, according to a Columbia student worker, a graduate student union representing women.
“The agents were obviously turned away at the door,” the Student Union said.
The university was distributed over the weekend guidance To students about policies to allow federal authorities on campus. The guidance states, “In general, ice agents must have a judicial warrant or subpoena to access non-public areas, including housing.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message Posted on X on Sunday, the administration said “they could be deported to cancel visas and green cards for Hamas supporters in the United States.”
Halil’s arrest was the first publicly known deportation effort under Trump’s promised crackdown on students protesting the war in Gaza.
On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, members of Columbia University’s Apartheid Dibust Group, including Sudaporato, the second from the left, and the center Mahmoud Khalil, surrounded by media members outside the Columbia University campus. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)
The Republican president argued that protesters confiscated their right to stay in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization.
Halil and other apartheid student leaders at Columbia University rejected anti-Semitism claims, saying they are part of a wider anti-war movement counting Jewish students and groups among their members. But I also have a sales group from time to time Revealed support Another Muslim organization for Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, designated by the United States as a terrorist group.
Khalil is currently being held at a Louisiana immigration detention center after being first sent to a New Jersey facility, according to Ice’s online detention database.
It is unclear when he will hold a hearing at immigration court. This is usually the first step in the deportation process. A spokesman for ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.
Columbia University declined to comment on Halil’s arrest over the weekend. A university spokesperson did not respond immediately on Monday.
A protest was scheduled for later Monday in front of the Ice Office in Manhattan.
Halil was one of the most visible activists in last year’s protests, serving as a negotiator for the students who built tent camps on campus. Israeli activists in recent weeks have called on the Trump administration to launch a deportation lawsuit against him.
Mahmoud Khalil, on the right of the centre, will listen to members of the student protest negotiation team as they give a speech at a press conference near the Palestine Demonstration Ensampment held at Columbia University on Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
Haril was among them Investigated by the new Columbia office Records shared with the Associated Press show that it already brought disciplinary charges against many students against their pro-Palestinian behaviorism.
Khalil received his master’s degree from the School of International Affairs in Colombia from the previous semester. His wife, an American citizen, is eight months pregnant.
Meanwhile, last week’s Trump administration was pulled out. $400 million in federal funds For the claim from Columbia that Ivy League schools did not govern anti-Semitism on campus.
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