Palestinian Graduate Student Arrested at Columbia Amid Trump-Era Crackdown on Protests
US immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University, on Saturday evening at his university residence. Khalil, who plays a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests on campus, was detained as part of President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on what he has labeled anti-Israel activism.
The arrest was confirmed by the Student Workers of Columbia labor union. Khalil, a student at the School of International and Public Affairs, holds a US permanent residency green card and is married to a US citizen, with his wife currently eight months pregnant. Hours before his detention, Khalil expressed concerns to Reuters about being targeted by the government due to his outspoken support for the pro-Palestinian movement. “I was very concerned that I was being singled out for speaking to the media,” he said, adding that he feared political repercussions for his activism.
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In a social media post on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the arrest, stating, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” though he provided no further details. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the arrest in a social media statement, claiming that Khalil had “led activities aligned to Hamas.” DHS spokespeople did not offer additional clarifications or comment on whether Khalil was accused of providing material support to the organization—a charge that US law specifically targets when it comes to designated terrorist groups.
Khalil’s arrest marks one of the first efforts by the Trump administration to target foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which Trump has often criticized as being antisemitic. His role at Columbia included mediating between university administrators and student protesters, some of whom staged high-profile demonstrations on campus last year, including the takeover of an academic building.
