New York (AP) – A prominent Palestinian activist who supported Lead Columbia University Student Campaign Movement According to his lawyers, they were arrested Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who allegedly acted under a State Department order to cancel his green card.
Mahmoud Halil was in a university-owned apartment block from the Manhattan campus in Columbia when several immigrants and customs enforcement agents entered the building and were taken into custody, his lawyer, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.
One of the agents told Greer over the phone that he was implementing a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa. An agent informed by his lawyer that Halil, who graduated in December, was in the US as a permanent resident with a green card, said they had revoked it too.
The arrest comes as President Donald Trump vows to deport foreign students and imprison “asgitators” involved in protesting Israeli war in Gaza. The administration is undergoing special scrutiny on Colombia, which announced on Friday it will be Grants and contracts cut $400 million This is because the government explains that Ivy League schools did not curb anti-Semitism on campus.
Authorities refused to tell Halil’s wife, who is eight months pregnant, why he was in custody, Greer said. Halil was then transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
“We couldn’t get any more details on why he was in custody,” Greer told the Associated Press. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is chasing that threat.”
A Columbia spokesperson said law enforcement must prepare a warrant before it enters university property. The spokesman refused to say whether the school had received a warrant for Khalil’s arrest.
Messages seeking comment remained with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Halil has become one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian movement in Colombia. When Columbia students built their tents on campus last spring, Halil was chosen to work as a negotiator on behalf of the students and frequently met with university administrators.
When classes resumed in September, he He told the Associated Press The protest is continuing. “As long as Colombia continues to invest and benefits from Israeli apartheid, students will continue to resist.”
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