Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee raised in Syria and a prominent student leader during the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday from his university dorms. His lawyer, Amy Greer, stated that Khalil is a legal permanent resident with a green card, and is married to a U.S. citizen, contradicting ICE’s claim that his student visa had been revoked. His current location remains unclear, though an online detainee locator suggests he may be held in New Jersey, with a potential upcoming transfer to Louisiana.
Columbia University was a focal point of nationwide pro-Palestinian student protests against the war and genocide in Gaza and against U.S. support for Israel. Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, had been temporarily suspended by the university following the protests, during which students set up an encampment and briefly occupied an academic building. His detention aligns with broader political tensions, including former President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting individuals involved in what some have called "pro-jihadist protests" on college campuses.
The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association supported the revocation of Khalil’s green card, calling him a "ringleader of the chaos," with many Jewish students criticizing the protests for antisemitic rhetoric, despite providing no concrete evidence of the protests' antisemitic nature. The Trump administration recently revoked $400 million in federal grants to Columbia, citing insufficient efforts to combat antisemitism on campus, a move the university’s interim president said would significantly impact research and operations.