On March 8, student activist and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil was abducted from his apartment by ICE agents and arrested. Mahmoud had been a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and, since the beginning of Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2023, had been negotiating with Columbia University’s officials. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apparently intended to deport him, believing he was living in the United States on a student visa. But when they were informed of his status as a permanent resident, they decided to hold him in detention while they attempted to legally invalidate his status.
This action was evident to most legal scholars as a significant overreach on the part of the federal government. Since ICE was operating on direct orders from the United States State Department, they did not have to obtain a warrant. When Khalil was arrested, the agents declined to show a warrant and even declined to identify what agency they were part of. Khalil was taken to an unmarked vehicle. Initially, Khalil’s wife was not aware of where he was taken, but after some time, it was revealed to Khalil’s lawyer that he was taken to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. The nature of Khalil’s arrest, and the fact that ICE apparently tried to separate him from his lawyer by taking him to a distant detention center, are obvious attempts to cause confusion and fear among pro-Palestinian student activists in the U.S.
Despite the flurry of online rumors, Khalil was never charged with a crime. Instead, the State Department is attempting to deport him under an obscure section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows the Secretary of State to deport lawful residents whose presence risks “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences”. As such, the State Department’s case rests entirely on the presupposition that pro-Palestinian student activism risks the foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, the slanderous rumors that Khalil was violent, or that he was antisemitic, are admittedly not the basis of his kidnapping and attempted deportation. And while these claims are not part of the case against him, it should be said that no proof exists of Khalil’s involvement in violent demonstrations or antisemitic statements, and Columbia officials regarded Khalil as someone with whom they could negotiate in good faith. Khalil also publicly disavowed antisemitism, saying, “There is, of course, no place for antisemitism. What we are witnessing is anti-Palestinian sentiment that’s taking different forms, and antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism [are] some of these forms.”
In response to these events, civil rights organizations have characterized the State Department’s conduct as unconstitutional. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said, “Allowing the Secretary of State to deport any non-citizen whose views, in his subjective judgment, are against America’s foreign policy interests places free expression in mortal peril.”
While the Trump administration has claimed that this action and similar deportations are intended to prevent supposedly-growing antisemitism on college campuses, it is clear that Trump and Republicans’ issue with pro-Palestine student activists is that they are drawing attention to the complicity of the United States in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. By making an example of Mahmoud, the State Department hopes to convince any students sympathetic to the humanity and rights of Palestinians to keep their mouths shut and avoid activism. This attempt to censor the justified expression of pro-Palestinian student activists must be opposed by anyone who values free speech. It is my sincere hope that the deportations of Mahmoud and the other students abducted by ICE are struck down in the courts, although in some ways, simply by creating fear and uncertainty among activists, the damage has already been done.
The guy was a spokesperson for some groups that are pretty anti American, if you read into it. I’m not sure what the law really says about free speech rights for non-citizens. At least there is a legal process that he gets the right to- otherwise he would have been deported by now.. I hope we’ll find out as the legal case unfolds. Can you imagine going to another country to study and then taking some high profile political activist role? It seems pretty risky and stupid to me.
I can’t believe ICE agents just swooped into Mahmoud’s apartment without even a warrant. And can we talk about how they refused to identify themselves properly? Riding off in unmarked vans felt straight out of a dystopian thriller. It’s all so Orwellian. I mean, the guy’s a green card holder, not some undocumented student, and they take him across the country to a detention center in Louisiana like it’s some sort of overnight kidnapping. What shocks me even more is that the State Department is hiding behind a dusty part of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act to label peaceful campus activism as a “threat” to foreign policy. It feels like a clear attempt to intimidate anyone who dares to speak up for Palestinians. Rumors of violence or antisemitism? Totally unfounded—I appreciate that Khalil publicly denounced antisemitism and was willing to negotiate with Columbia officials in good faith.