By: Katie Nelson

Center Editor

On Mar. 8, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil for his leadership role in the pro-Palestinian encampment protests last spring. Agents arrived at Khalil’s student apartment building and arrested him, transporting him via van to an immigration facility in New Jersey. He was then flown to Louisiana, where he now awaits trial to determine the grounds on which he may be deported. A federal judge has blocked his removal from the country while the court makes a decision, with the first trial of the hearing being held on Mar. 27th.

Khalil, a graduate student with Palestinian ancestry, stood out as a leader of the pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus. Khalil started at Columbia in January of 2023 after earning a degree in computer science at Lebanese American University. He is married to a U.S. citizen and has a green card, indicating his status as a permanent resident of the country. He did on-camera interviews and gave speeches during sit-ins and protests, all without wearing a mask, unlike many other individuals involved. Khalil was also an active negotiator with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the main coalition of protesting groups on campus. 

Khalil’s lawyers argue that the trial should be held in New York rather than Louisiana, where Khalil was transported. In a detailed report of the arrest, the Justice Department explained that Khalil “could not be housed at Elizabeth Detention Facility long-term due to a bedbug issue, so he remained there until his flight to Louisiana.” Despite this claim, the detention center has taken in at least four other individuals since Mar. 6, adding to Khalil’s lawyer’s assertion that his detainment in Louisiana was carried out under “improper motives.” If he does go to trial in Louisiana, Khalil will face one of the harshest immigration court circuits in the country.

In his first public statement since the arrest, Khalil said, “My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the U.S. has continued to supply Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention. For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.” 

The case is part of a growing number of arrests associated with immigration status in the U.S. President Trump has taken an aggressive stance regarding immigration, already implementing multiple tactics to address the issue. According to the New York City Bar, his campaign has so far included “aggressively pursuing removal of noncitizens, pressuring states and localities to cooperate in immigration enforcement, limiting access to humanitarian forms of relief, and closing the southern border, to name just a few actions to date.” 

Protests in multiple cities have erupted in anger over Khalil’s arrest and will likely continue as the trial develops. 

(Sources: ABC, AP News, BBC, New York City Bar, New York Times)