New York - Saba:
A US judge issued a ruling on Friday, according to several US media outlets, granting the country's authorities the right to deport Mahmoud Khalil, the leader of the pro-Palestinian student movement. Khalil can appeal the decision to remain in the United States.
Lawyers for Khalil, who led the protest at the prestigious Columbia University in New York and was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, had indicated before the court ruling that they intended to appeal if it was not in their client's favor.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Khalil, a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University in New York.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed his arrest and said he was "engaged in activities linked to Hamas." It was unclear whether Mahmoud Khalil's arrest was based on a charge or not.
Two days after his arrest, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York suspended his deportation.
Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested him at his home on the Columbia University campus and discussed revoking his student visa.
However, they discovered that he had obtained a "green card" that allows him to reside and work in the United States since 2024, and threatened to revoke it.
They also threatened to arrest his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.
Donna Lieberman, president of the New York Civil Liberties Union, described Mahmoud Khalil's arrest as "unlawful" and "a significant assault on his fundamental rights."
Mahmoud Khalil is being held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana, according to ICE data available online.
Protesters in the streets of New York and lawmakers condemned the arrest. Democrats and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories condemned his arrest. Fourteen Democratic members of Congress, including Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib, wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, "This unlawful abuse of power and political repression poses a threat to all Americans."
A crowd of several hundred people chanted "Free Palestine" during a protest in lower Manhattan and chanted anti-police slogans.
Mahmoud Khalil, born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, played a key role in keeping dialogue open between student protesters and the Columbia University administration, which had become the scene of mass demonstrations against the Israeli bombing of Gaza and the Biden administration's support for Israel.
Khalil received a diploma from the School of Foreign Service last December and established himself as a key mediator when pro-Palestinian students began their sit-in on campus in the spring of 2024. This media exposure made him a target for pro-Israel advocates, who called for his deportation.
On April 30, 2024, at the invitation of the university's president, who later resigned, the New York Police Department broke up a sit-in by dozens of students and activists.
Mahmoud Khalil and other student leaders from Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which calls on the university to end its financial ties with Israel, have long rejected accusations of anti-Semitism, repeatedly asserting that criticizing Israel for its war in Gaza or supporting Palestinians is not anti-Semitic.
Since his arrest, Khalil has received widespread support, and a demonstration took place in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in Manhattan. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights organization, called for his immediate release, asserting that he "has not been charged with any crime and has not been convicted of any crime."
It appears that the Trump administration's persecution of pro-Palestinian students will not stop there. In his message on the Thread platform, Trump said, "We know that other students at Columbia University and other universities have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, and anti-American activities, and the Trump administration will not tolerate this..." he said.
The Trump administration also warned 60 universities that they risk losing federal funding if they fail to ensure the safety of Jewish students.
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