Deportation nation
THE KHALIL DOSSIER
March 15, 2025
DAWN
THEY were waiting for Mahmoud Khalil outside his apartment building in New York City.
Last Saturday evening, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the Columbia University student-activist and put him in immigration detention. Khalil’s wife produced paperwork showing that he was a legal permanent resident, or a Green Card holder, but the agents continued to handcuff him and took him away. His wife, eight months pregnant, could do nothing to help.
Mahmoud Khalil’s case is notable for many reasons. First, it represents the overhaul of immigration being undertaken by the Trump administration. In general, a Green Card holder is a legal permanent resident of the United States, and not a visa holder.
This usually means they cannot be arbitrarily arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and threatened with deportation. However, the Trump administration appears to have decided that they can argue that Green Card holders can also face deportation proceedings.
In court, the Trump administration is relying on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows the US secretary of state to authorise the deportation of a Green Card holder if they act in contravention of US foreign policy.
The Trump administration can effectively ‘disappear’ its political opponents who are not US citizens.
Mahmoud Khalil is a prominent activist in the Free Palestine Movement and was involved in the student encampments protesting the Israeli bombardment of Gaza last summer.
Second, the case is important because it shows how the Trump administration can effectively ‘disappear’ its political opponents who are not US citizens. Khalil was detained and not allowed to call his lawyers. For a good while, no one knew where he had been taken. It turned out he had been transported thousands of miles away to an immigration detention centre in Louisiana. His lawyers in New York filed a case and got a judge to order a stay on Khalil’s deportation.
In a Wednesday hearing, however, the judge did not order Khalil to be freed. At the hearing, his lawyers complained to the judge that they had not been able to have private conversations with him and that the detention centre officials had told them they did not have the ability to arrange for them. The judge ordered that such conversations be made possible.
The case should be a lesson for anyone on a visa or Green Card in the US. While it is unclear whether Pakistan will be on the travel ban list that the Trump administration is set to issue on March 21, restrictions on non-citizens’ rights will likely impact people in the diaspora. In this case, there was no violation of any immigration law or procedure. If Khalil had been an American citizen his activism would have been given cover by the First Amendment of the US constitution, which protects political speech.
However, the Trump administration seems to have decided these protections for free speech do not apply to Green Card holders. Undoubtedly, the case is meant as a warning for all those on visas and Green Cards who must now worry about being deported if they say anything against the administration’s politics or foreign policy.
As part of this project of excluding everyone with whom they have a political qualm, border agents at airports have started using AI tools to scan the information on the mobile phones of people arriving at US ports. If they find any information that can be construed as opposing US foreign policy à la Trump, or if, for example, you are arriving on a student visa and have texts on your phone about a job, then this can be used as the basis for sending you back home.
In Khalil’s case, he had completed a Master’s degree at Columbia University but was married to a US citizen. It is likely, however, that he was still in the two-year probationary period during which a Green Card based on marriage is deemed “conditional”. This period opens the Green Card holder to greater scrutiny.
Pakistani citizens who have Green Cards but do not reside in the US full-time will likely face pressure to either move to the US permanently or abandon their Green Cards. This is especially true if they spend more than five months a year away from the US on a regular basis. The Trump administration wants to make it impossible for people to hold Green Cards if they do not live in the US full-time. In recent weeks, many of these individuals have been pressured to sign a form at the airport in which they agree to give up their cards.
One hopes that Pakistani officials will be able to convince Trump administration officials to keep Pakistan off the travel ban list. If they are unable to do so, the situation is likely to become extremely difficult for Pakistani Americans and Pakistani students, doctors, and engineers. If the ban is passed, then perhaps the only way to obtain a visa to the US would be through marriage to an American citizen.
Those who already have visas but are not currently in the US will likely not be able to go. Those who have visas but are currently in the US may be able to stay there until their visas expire but will have trouble renewing their visas if they leave.
The age of immigration to the US appears, at least in the short term, to be over. For decades, the US considered immigration violations to be a civil issue — now, however, everyone who makes the tiniest mistake, and sometimes even those who make no mistake at all, are not just visa violators but criminals.
The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2025
THEY were waiting for Mahmoud Khalil outside his apartment building in New York City.
Last Saturday evening, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the Columbia University student-activist and put him in immigration detention. Khalil’s wife produced paperwork showing that he was a legal permanent resident, or a Green Card holder, but the agents continued to handcuff him and took him away. His wife, eight months pregnant, could do nothing to help.
Mahmoud Khalil’s case is notable for many reasons. First, it represents the overhaul of immigration being undertaken by the Trump administration. In general, a Green Card holder is a legal permanent resident of the United States, and not a visa holder.
This usually means they cannot be arbitrarily arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and threatened with deportation. However, the Trump administration appears to have decided that they can argue that Green Card holders can also face deportation proceedings.
In court, the Trump administration is relying on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows the US secretary of state to authorise the deportation of a Green Card holder if they act in contravention of US foreign policy.
The Trump administration can effectively ‘disappear’ its political opponents who are not US citizens.
Mahmoud Khalil is a prominent activist in the Free Palestine Movement and was involved in the student encampments protesting the Israeli bombardment of Gaza last summer.
Second, the case is important because it shows how the Trump administration can effectively ‘disappear’ its political opponents who are not US citizens. Khalil was detained and not allowed to call his lawyers. For a good while, no one knew where he had been taken. It turned out he had been transported thousands of miles away to an immigration detention centre in Louisiana. His lawyers in New York filed a case and got a judge to order a stay on Khalil’s deportation.
In a Wednesday hearing, however, the judge did not order Khalil to be freed. At the hearing, his lawyers complained to the judge that they had not been able to have private conversations with him and that the detention centre officials had told them they did not have the ability to arrange for them. The judge ordered that such conversations be made possible.
The case should be a lesson for anyone on a visa or Green Card in the US. While it is unclear whether Pakistan will be on the travel ban list that the Trump administration is set to issue on March 21, restrictions on non-citizens’ rights will likely impact people in the diaspora. In this case, there was no violation of any immigration law or procedure. If Khalil had been an American citizen his activism would have been given cover by the First Amendment of the US constitution, which protects political speech.
However, the Trump administration seems to have decided these protections for free speech do not apply to Green Card holders. Undoubtedly, the case is meant as a warning for all those on visas and Green Cards who must now worry about being deported if they say anything against the administration’s politics or foreign policy.
As part of this project of excluding everyone with whom they have a political qualm, border agents at airports have started using AI tools to scan the information on the mobile phones of people arriving at US ports. If they find any information that can be construed as opposing US foreign policy à la Trump, or if, for example, you are arriving on a student visa and have texts on your phone about a job, then this can be used as the basis for sending you back home.
In Khalil’s case, he had completed a Master’s degree at Columbia University but was married to a US citizen. It is likely, however, that he was still in the two-year probationary period during which a Green Card based on marriage is deemed “conditional”. This period opens the Green Card holder to greater scrutiny.
Pakistani citizens who have Green Cards but do not reside in the US full-time will likely face pressure to either move to the US permanently or abandon their Green Cards. This is especially true if they spend more than five months a year away from the US on a regular basis. The Trump administration wants to make it impossible for people to hold Green Cards if they do not live in the US full-time. In recent weeks, many of these individuals have been pressured to sign a form at the airport in which they agree to give up their cards.
One hopes that Pakistani officials will be able to convince Trump administration officials to keep Pakistan off the travel ban list. If they are unable to do so, the situation is likely to become extremely difficult for Pakistani Americans and Pakistani students, doctors, and engineers. If the ban is passed, then perhaps the only way to obtain a visa to the US would be through marriage to an American citizen.
Those who already have visas but are not currently in the US will likely not be able to go. Those who have visas but are currently in the US may be able to stay there until their visas expire but will have trouble renewing their visas if they leave.
The age of immigration to the US appears, at least in the short term, to be over. For decades, the US considered immigration violations to be a civil issue — now, however, everyone who makes the tiniest mistake, and sometimes even those who make no mistake at all, are not just visa violators but criminals.
The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2025
Explainer: US arrest of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil
Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, was arrested on Saturday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at his Columbia University-owned apartment in upper Manhattan in New York City.
A recent graduate of the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, Khalil has been a leading figure in pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia, including the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
In 2024, pro-Palestinian student encampments emerged across the US as part of broader protests against Israeli attacks in Palestine. These encampments were a key component of the student-led movement demanding that universities divest from companies supporting Israel.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the US, has been a prominent figure in these movements.
His arrest has sparked widespread outrage, raising questions about free speech, immigration policies and the targeting of activists.
Khalil’s activism made him a visible target amid growing tensions over campus protests and the Trump administration’s crackdown on what it deems “anti-American” activities.
Why was Khalil detained?
Khalil’s arrest followed an executive order by US President Donald Trump targeting “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity” on college campuses.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” he said.
The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student who was forcibly taken by ICE from his New York City home on 8 March, described his arrest as 'a kidnapping', which has left her and their family devastated. Eight months pregnant, she has called for his release in time for the birth of their baby. A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's efforts to deport Khalil. His wife said Khalil 'was detained because he stood for the rights and lives of his people.’
MO
March 13, 2025
Published March 14, 2025
Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil outside of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, where a hearing is underway regarding Khalil’s arrest, in New York City on March 12. — AFP
Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, was arrested on Saturday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at his Columbia University-owned apartment in upper Manhattan in New York City.
A recent graduate of the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, Khalil has been a leading figure in pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia, including the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
In 2024, pro-Palestinian student encampments emerged across the US as part of broader protests against Israeli attacks in Palestine. These encampments were a key component of the student-led movement demanding that universities divest from companies supporting Israel.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the US, has been a prominent figure in these movements.
His arrest has sparked widespread outrage, raising questions about free speech, immigration policies and the targeting of activists.
Khalil’s activism made him a visible target amid growing tensions over campus protests and the Trump administration’s crackdown on what it deems “anti-American” activities.
Why was Khalil detained?
Khalil’s arrest followed an executive order by US President Donald Trump targeting “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity” on college campuses.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” he said.
Protesters gather to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil at Foley Square, New York City, March 10. — AFP
Authorities initially tried to revoke Khalil’s visa but later learned that he is a permanent resident and moved to revoke his green card, with the Department of Homeland Security accusing him of activities “aligned with” the Palestinian group Hamas.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move, stating: “Coming to the United States on a visa is a privilege, not a right,” and accused Khalil of supporting Hamas.
Trump called Khalil’s detention “the first arrest of many”, signalling a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism.
Additionally, Trump has targeted Columbia University, questioning whether it has done enough to prevent what he describes as antisemitic incidents. Earlier this month, his administration cancelled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the institution.
Judicial process
Khalil was first detained in New Jersey before being moved to the LaSalle Detention Centre in Louisiana, a facility known for housing immigration detainees.
A federal judge temporarily blocked his deportation on Monday. Judge Jesse Furman ordered that Khalil not be removed from the US until further court proceedings, emphasising the need to preserve jurisdiction over the case.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Furman also granted Khalil access to his legal team after attorneys raised concerns about limited communication.
Authorities initially tried to revoke Khalil’s visa but later learned that he is a permanent resident and moved to revoke his green card, with the Department of Homeland Security accusing him of activities “aligned with” the Palestinian group Hamas.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move, stating: “Coming to the United States on a visa is a privilege, not a right,” and accused Khalil of supporting Hamas.
Trump called Khalil’s detention “the first arrest of many”, signalling a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism.
Additionally, Trump has targeted Columbia University, questioning whether it has done enough to prevent what he describes as antisemitic incidents. Earlier this month, his administration cancelled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the institution.
Judicial process
Khalil was first detained in New Jersey before being moved to the LaSalle Detention Centre in Louisiana, a facility known for housing immigration detainees.
A federal judge temporarily blocked his deportation on Monday. Judge Jesse Furman ordered that Khalil not be removed from the US until further court proceedings, emphasising the need to preserve jurisdiction over the case.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Furman also granted Khalil access to his legal team after attorneys raised concerns about limited communication.
Protesters gather to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil at Foley Square, New York City, March 10. — AFP
A separate hearing is scheduled for March 27 in immigration court to determine the validity of Khalil’s green card status.
Justice Department lawyers argued for the case to be moved out of New York, proposing New Jersey or Louisiana as alternative venues.
Reactions to detention
Khalil’s arrest has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organisations, lawmakers and activists.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the detention “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American”, accusing the government of targeting individuals for their political views.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, described the arrest as “deeply shocking” and a violation of fundamental US values, including freedom of expression.
The United Nations also emphasised the importance of upholding the right to peaceful assembly and free speech.
Lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, have condemned the detention.
Sanders called it an illegal attempt to suppress political dissent, while 14 members of Congress signed a letter demanding Khalil’s release, labelling his arrest a “direct assault on freedom of speech”.
Protests have erupted across the US, with more than 1,000 demonstrators gathering in New York City on Monday to denounce the arrest as political persecution.
Protesters criticised the administration’s efforts to silence dissent, with one saying “the US is enacting many laws and executive orders to prevent us from expressing our opinion, from defending Palestinians, from defending human rights.”
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan also faced protests during a visit to New York state’s capitol, Albany. Demonstrators, including assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, criticised Homan’s role in implementing harsh immigration policies and the detention of Khalil.
“Do you believe in the First Amendment?” Mamdani shouted at Homan.
On Thursday, hundreds of activists staged a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City, resulting in nearly 100 arrests.
Broader implications
Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over free speech, immigration and national security.
Critics argue that the Trump administration is using immigration enforcement to target political opponents and suppress activism, particularly on college campuses. The case also highlights the administration’s broader efforts to restrict pro-Palestinian advocacy, which has surged in response to Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 48,500 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins with accusations of genocide.
The outcome of his case could set a precedent for how the US government handles similar situations in the future, with significant implications for free speech and immigration policy.
In the meantime, Khalil remains in detention, separated from his wife, an American citizen, who is eight months pregnant, and facing an uncertain future.
A separate hearing is scheduled for March 27 in immigration court to determine the validity of Khalil’s green card status.
Justice Department lawyers argued for the case to be moved out of New York, proposing New Jersey or Louisiana as alternative venues.
Reactions to detention
Khalil’s arrest has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organisations, lawmakers and activists.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the detention “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American”, accusing the government of targeting individuals for their political views.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, described the arrest as “deeply shocking” and a violation of fundamental US values, including freedom of expression.
The United Nations also emphasised the importance of upholding the right to peaceful assembly and free speech.
Lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, have condemned the detention.
Sanders called it an illegal attempt to suppress political dissent, while 14 members of Congress signed a letter demanding Khalil’s release, labelling his arrest a “direct assault on freedom of speech”.
Protests have erupted across the US, with more than 1,000 demonstrators gathering in New York City on Monday to denounce the arrest as political persecution.
Protesters criticised the administration’s efforts to silence dissent, with one saying “the US is enacting many laws and executive orders to prevent us from expressing our opinion, from defending Palestinians, from defending human rights.”
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan also faced protests during a visit to New York state’s capitol, Albany. Demonstrators, including assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, criticised Homan’s role in implementing harsh immigration policies and the detention of Khalil.
“Do you believe in the First Amendment?” Mamdani shouted at Homan.
On Thursday, hundreds of activists staged a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City, resulting in nearly 100 arrests.
Broader implications
Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over free speech, immigration and national security.
Critics argue that the Trump administration is using immigration enforcement to target political opponents and suppress activism, particularly on college campuses. The case also highlights the administration’s broader efforts to restrict pro-Palestinian advocacy, which has surged in response to Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 48,500 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins with accusations of genocide.
The outcome of his case could set a precedent for how the US government handles similar situations in the future, with significant implications for free speech and immigration policy.
In the meantime, Khalil remains in detention, separated from his wife, an American citizen, who is eight months pregnant, and facing an uncertain future.
The wife of detained Palestinian Columbia student says she was naive to believe he was safe from arrest
The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student who was forcibly taken by ICE from his New York City home on 8 March, described his arrest as 'a kidnapping', which has left her and their family devastated. Eight months pregnant, she has called for his release in time for the birth of their baby. A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's efforts to deport Khalil. His wife said Khalil 'was detained because he stood for the rights and lives of his people.’
MO
March 13, 2025
by Reuters
Two days before agents from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife of more than two years, said that she was confused. As a legal permanent resident of the US, surely Khalil did not have to worry about that, she recalls telling him.
“I didn’t take him seriously,” Abdalla, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview. “Clearly, I was naïve.”
The DHS agents handcuffed her husband on Saturday in the lobby of their university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil’s arrest is one of the first efforts by President Donald Trump to fulfil his promise to seek deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist in New York, sat in the front row of a Manhattan courtroom as Khalil’s lawyers argued to a federal judge that he had been arrested in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 2023 attack. They told the judge that this was a violation of Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech.
The judge extended his order blocking Khalil’s deportation while he considers whether the arrest was constitutional.
Trump has said, without evidence, that Khalil, 30, has promoted Hamas, the Palestinian movement that governs Gaza.
His administration has said that Khalil is not accused of or charged with a crime, but Trump says that his presence in the US is “contrary to national and foreign policy interests.”
On Sunday, the Trump administration transferred Khalil from a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Manhattan, to a jail in rural Jena, Louisiana, about 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away.
Abdalla and Khalil met in Lebanon in 2016 when she joined a volunteer programme that Khalil was overseeing at a non-profit group providing educational scholarships to Syrian youth. They started as friends before a seven-year long-distance relationship led to their New York wedding in 2023.
“He is the most incredible person who cares so much for other people,” she said. “He is the most kind, genuine soul.”
READ: Israel carrying out ‘fastest starvation campaign in Gaza in modern history’: UN envoy
The couple are expecting their first child in late April. She said that she hoped Khalil would be free by then. She showed Reuters a picture of a recent sonogram of the baby, a boy whose name they have yet to choose.
“I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen,” said Abdalla, adding that Khalil had insisted on doing all the cooking, laundry and cleaning through her pregnancy. “I’ve always been so excited to have my first baby with the person I love.”
The government has said that it has begun proceedings to deport Khalil and is defending his detention in the court proceedings until then. Trump has called the anti-Israel student protest movement “anti-Semitic” and said Khalil’s arrest “is the first of many to come.”
Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the US on a student visa in 2022, getting his US permanent residency green card last year. He completed his studies at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December but is yet to receive his master’s degree.
He became a high-profile member of the Ivy League university’s student protest movement, often speaking to the media as one of the lead negotiators with Columbia administration over the protesters’ years-long demands that the school end investments from its $14.8 billion endowment fund in arms companies and other firms that support Israel’s government.
More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel in the Hamas incursion, in which 251 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s offensive has killed at least 48,500 Palestinians, mainly children and women, according to Gaza health officials, and devastated the coastal enclave.
The Trump administration says pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organisation, and anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students.
Student protest organisers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with anti-Semitism.
Jewish faculty at Columbia held a rally and press conference in support of Khalil outside a university building on Monday, holding placards saying “Jews say no to deportations”.
According to Abdalla, nobody from Columbia University’s administration has contacted her to offer help, which she found frustrating.
She pointed out that her husband’s focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways. She has had a few brief phone calls with Khalil from jail, where he told her he had been helping detained migrants with poor English fill out forms written in legalese, and donating food to his jail-mates, bought from his commissary account.
“Mahmoud is Palestinian and he’s always been interested in Palestinian politics,” she added. “He’s standing up for his people, he’s fighting for his people.”
Two days before agents from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife of more than two years, said that she was confused. As a legal permanent resident of the US, surely Khalil did not have to worry about that, she recalls telling him.
“I didn’t take him seriously,” Abdalla, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview. “Clearly, I was naïve.”
The DHS agents handcuffed her husband on Saturday in the lobby of their university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil’s arrest is one of the first efforts by President Donald Trump to fulfil his promise to seek deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist in New York, sat in the front row of a Manhattan courtroom as Khalil’s lawyers argued to a federal judge that he had been arrested in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 2023 attack. They told the judge that this was a violation of Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech.
The judge extended his order blocking Khalil’s deportation while he considers whether the arrest was constitutional.
Trump has said, without evidence, that Khalil, 30, has promoted Hamas, the Palestinian movement that governs Gaza.
His administration has said that Khalil is not accused of or charged with a crime, but Trump says that his presence in the US is “contrary to national and foreign policy interests.”
On Sunday, the Trump administration transferred Khalil from a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Manhattan, to a jail in rural Jena, Louisiana, about 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away.
Abdalla and Khalil met in Lebanon in 2016 when she joined a volunteer programme that Khalil was overseeing at a non-profit group providing educational scholarships to Syrian youth. They started as friends before a seven-year long-distance relationship led to their New York wedding in 2023.
“He is the most incredible person who cares so much for other people,” she said. “He is the most kind, genuine soul.”
READ: Israel carrying out ‘fastest starvation campaign in Gaza in modern history’: UN envoy
The couple are expecting their first child in late April. She said that she hoped Khalil would be free by then. She showed Reuters a picture of a recent sonogram of the baby, a boy whose name they have yet to choose.
“I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen,” said Abdalla, adding that Khalil had insisted on doing all the cooking, laundry and cleaning through her pregnancy. “I’ve always been so excited to have my first baby with the person I love.”
The government has said that it has begun proceedings to deport Khalil and is defending his detention in the court proceedings until then. Trump has called the anti-Israel student protest movement “anti-Semitic” and said Khalil’s arrest “is the first of many to come.”
Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the US on a student visa in 2022, getting his US permanent residency green card last year. He completed his studies at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December but is yet to receive his master’s degree.
He became a high-profile member of the Ivy League university’s student protest movement, often speaking to the media as one of the lead negotiators with Columbia administration over the protesters’ years-long demands that the school end investments from its $14.8 billion endowment fund in arms companies and other firms that support Israel’s government.
More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel in the Hamas incursion, in which 251 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s offensive has killed at least 48,500 Palestinians, mainly children and women, according to Gaza health officials, and devastated the coastal enclave.
The Trump administration says pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organisation, and anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students.
Student protest organisers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with anti-Semitism.
Jewish faculty at Columbia held a rally and press conference in support of Khalil outside a university building on Monday, holding placards saying “Jews say no to deportations”.
According to Abdalla, nobody from Columbia University’s administration has contacted her to offer help, which she found frustrating.
She pointed out that her husband’s focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways. She has had a few brief phone calls with Khalil from jail, where he told her he had been helping detained migrants with poor English fill out forms written in legalese, and donating food to his jail-mates, bought from his commissary account.
“Mahmoud is Palestinian and he’s always been interested in Palestinian politics,” she added. “He’s standing up for his people, he’s fighting for his people.”
US: Calls for Release of Palestinian Activist Gain Momentum
Federal judge orders that the recent Columbia graduate not be deported while the court considered a challenge brought by Khalil’s lawyers.
Thousands rally in New York City on March 10, demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention (Photo: Wyatt Souers)
As recent Columbia graduate and leading activist in the Palestine solidarity movement Mahmoud Khalil remains in detention in a Louisiana immigration facility, forces across the country are uniting to fight for his release.
Last year, Khalil was a negotiator between student organizers participating in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and Columbia University, fighting for their institution’s divestment from institutions that support the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people. Many view Khalil’s arrest by immigration authorities on March 9 as a major crackdown by the Trump administration on free speech and one of the largest grassroots movements in recent US history: the movement in solidarity with Palestine.
Khalil was arrested by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8, briefly held at an ICE facility in Manhattan and then was transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana, where he remains detained more than 1,000 miles from his home in New York City. On Monday, March 10, a federal judge in New York City ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considered a challenge brought by his lawyers.
An update from Khalil’s attorney Amy Greer indicated that “Mahmoud’s legal team, which includes Kyle Barron, CLEAR, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Amy Greer, filed a motion to compel in federal court in the Southern District of New York, as part of the habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf over the weekend, seeking an order requiring the government to return to New York for any immigration proceedings.”
ICE detention centers have become notorious for their abuses and brutality, and the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in which Khalil is being held has a particularly heinous reputation. The facility is operated by the for-profit corporation the GEO Group. In 2016, three immigrants died at the facility in the span of six months, with an additional fourth detained immigrant dying the following year. One of those who died while in custody at the facility, Roger Rayson, had been diagnosed with cancer, but ICE had decided to end his chemotherapy sessions. In 2017, data revealed that the center was one of five ICE facilities with the most complaints of sexual assault.
According to the update from Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, the activist is “healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament,” while in custody in Louisiana.
Movement grows in support of Mahmoud Khalil
Academics, activists, organizers, and artists have signed a letter calling for an end to Trump’s attacks on immigrants and student activists. These include scholars Judith Butler, Robin D.G. Kelley, Gerald Horne, Charisse Burden-Stelly, and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, as well as artists including actor Susan Sarandon, Alana Hadid, creative director of Watermelon Pictures, Palestinian-American painter Samia Halaby, and singer Lauren Jauregui. Labor leaders also signed onto the letter, including Brandon Mancilla, Director of United Auto Workers Region 9A, and Carl Rosen, General President of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers.
“We, the signers below, condemn the vicious attacks against free speech and the targeting of immigrant students, particularly student activists and protestors,” reads the letter, published by the Peoples Forum, a part of the national Shut it Down for Palestine Coalition, a grouping of pro-Palestine organizations that held key demonstrations against Israeli genocide in the recent years. “Throughout history, the repression of student movements has always been the harbinger of a broader assault against basic democratic and civil rights for the rest of the nation. Now is the time that we must stand together to protect our students, our right to education, and our constitutional right to Free Speech.”
The Shut it Down for Palestine coalition organized a rally and march in downtown Manhattan, attended by thousands, calling for Khalil’s release. The demonstration was endorsed by several organizations which have been central to the movement for Palestine, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City, the ANSWER Coalition, the Democratic Socialists of America-New York City, and the Palestinian Feminist Collective.
Similar demonstrations were held throughout the country, including in Washington, DC.
The Shut it Down for Palestine coalition has called for a rally outside of the court conference on Khalil’s case in New York City. In the next few days, rallies will be held demanding Khalil’s release throughout the country, including in Atlanta on March 11.
“The first arrest of many to come”
US President Trump and his administration has indicated that Khalil’s arrest is only the first of many similar crackdowns on the student movement. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote in a March 10 post on Truth Social. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country—never to return again.”
The White House had written in a post on X marking Khalil’s arrest: “SHALOM, MAHMOUD.”
Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-zionist Jewish organization which organizes Jewish people in support of Palestine, referenced the history of the persecution of Jewish people as a reason to stand against Trump’s attacks on the student movement. “As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. It’s on all of us to stand up now. Many of us are the descendants of people who resisted European fascism and far too many of our ancestors lost their lives in that struggle,” JVP wrote in a statement. “This is how fascism works and the only defense is to refuse to be divided or silenced. History has shown us that we cannot stand idly by—and we will not.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on Khalil’s arrest on March 9, claiming that “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch
‘Protesting genocide is not a crime’ — Outrage grows over arrest of Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil
According to Trump, Khalil was taken in by ICE officials because of his "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity."
According to Trump, Khalil was taken in by ICE officials because of his "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity."
Images Staff
11 Mar, 2025
DAWN
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia University, was arrested by US immigration officials over the weekend despite holding a permanent residency green card. His crime was participating in pro-Palestine protests at his alma mater.
According to Zeteo News correspondent Prem Thakker, US Immigration and Customs Enforcee and his eight months pregnant wife were just walking in. The officials initially told Khalil his student visa was being revoked and upon learning he was a green card holder, they said the government had revoked
In another video Thakker called the Trump administration’s attempt to detain Khalil “clumsy and haphazard”.
“These agents forced themselves into this apartment building, did not necessarily apparently introduce themselves, demanded to see their identification […] The administration doesn’t seem to know exactly how to justify this very haphazard, unilateral move and is trying to simply appeal to President Trump’s executive orders rather than things like the Constitution.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirming Khalil’s arrest on Sunday, claimed he had “led activities aligned to Hamas” and that the DHS action was taken “in coordination with the Department of State.”
Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, was reportedly at the forefront of the pro-Palestine protests and led the encampments at Columbia that rapidly spread to universities across the US. The demonstration protested Israel’s devastating crimes in Gaza.
President Donald Trump, freshly inaugurated and desperately seeking to expel any dissent to his views, threatened that Khalil’s arrest wasn’t the last.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” he pledged on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said.
Temporary halt
While the Trump administration moves to quickly deport Khalil, who has reportedly been moved to the southern state of Louisiana, a federal judge on Monday ordered authorities to halt proceedings.
The order, seen by AFP, by Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York also called for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Judge Furman put a hold on his deportation “unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
Khalil’s lawyers also urged Furman to order Khalil’s return to New York. They accused the government of seeking to deprive Khalil of access to legal counsel by sending him far from New York.
‘A kidnapping’
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemned Khalil’s arrest, calling it “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American.”
“The government’s actions are obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, in a statement.
On Monday afternoon, over 1,000 protesters gathered in New York to express their outrage at Khalil’s arrest.
“This was essentially a kidnapping,” said 42-year-old Tobi, who declined to give her last name for fear of retaliation.
“It seems like a clear targeting of activists, which is a really, really dangerous precedent,” she said.
“This is a dismal moment in American history. We must not go down this authoritarian path one step further,” said Michael Thaddeu, one of around 50 professors who expressed their concern Monday at a press conference.
The arrest also prompted an outcry from the United Nations, with the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying, “It is crucial to underscore the importance of respecting the right of freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly everywhere.”
‘Protesting genocide is not a crime’
Shortly after the news came to light, social media users, including US politicians, were outraged at Khalil’s arrest and Trump’s plans to deport people for protesting against the atrocities happening in Gaza.
They also highlighted that the move was against the First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, assembly and religion.
Congresswoman Rashida Talib took to X (formerly Twitter) and said Khalil’s arrest was “straight out of the fascist playbook.
“Criminalising dissent is an assault on our First Amendment and freedom of speech. Revoking someone’s green card for expressing their political opinion is illegal. Protesting genocide is not a crime.”
US representative Ilhan Omar called the move “utterly outrageous”, “un-American” and called for Khalil’s release.
“The forced disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil for nothing more than constitutionally protected speech is a clear assault on first amendment rights and a blatant act of authoritarianism.”
American actor Cynthia Nixon said, “Neither Trump nor DHS have the power to singlehandedly revoke someone’s green card, especially not for exercising the right to free speech, a right enshrined in the Constitution. DHS must immediately release Mahmoud Khalil!”
Another social media user called for Khalil’s freedom, highlighting that his detainment and the impending threat of deportation, violated his First Amendment rights.
“It is illegal and unconstitutional. Every single American, no matter where you stand with the Palestinian cause, should be protesting this injustice.”
An X user said Khalil was Trump’s first political prisoner, adding that there was no such crime as anti-semitism because, “In America, you’re allowed to think or say anything you like.
“And they have no evidence he was antisemitic. He was arrested for criticising Israel.”
A netizen said, “because the party of free speech didn’t like HIS free speech — he’s abducted and set for deportation” despite doing everything “MAGAs claim they want”.
‘You’re next’
Activist Alana Hadid, the sister of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, in an Instagram video said, “They can take you right now, no charges, no trial, no explanation, just gone. If you think that can’t happen in America, let me remind you it already has.”
She listed how Japanese Americans were rounded up and put in camps, black civil rights leaders were hunted down and assassinated, Muslims after 9/11 were spied on, detained and disappeared, and now it was Palestinians.
Alana underscored that Khalil was a legal permanent resident but “that did not stop the DHS from grabbing him, threatening his pregnant wife and taking him without charges.
“His wife begged them to explain, his lawyers demanded answers, and they hung up. Why? Because they don’t have to explain, because they know no one will stop them. This is how it happens. They test the waters, they go after the people they think no one will defend. First it’s an activist and a student, then it’s a journalist and then it’s anyone who speaks up.”
An X user said that Khalil was leading non-violent protests and was taken without trial despite being a permanent resident with a wife who is eight months pregnant.
“If we don’t all work to reverse this and end this, you’re eventually next. No matter who you are.”
\
Joshua Reed Eakle, the president of Project Liberal, highlighted that Khalil wasn’t an illegal resident, nor was he a terrorist and the DHS still “snatched him off campus, disappeared him without a trace”.
“No charges. No trial. Just gone. This is how authoritarian regimes operate. It’s what happens when the First Amendment only applies to the ‘right’ kind of people — it’s only a trial balloon for broader crackdown on speech.
“If they can do it to Khalil, they can do it to you.”
Another X user wrote, “Everyone should be shouting from the rooftops demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil. No one is safe in a nation where you can be disappeared for protesting.
“It won’t end with immigrants on green cards. This is a system test. Soon enough, they’ll find a way to come for you too.”
A social media user said Khalil’s arrest was intended to make an example of him and intimidate others from speaking out about Palestine.
“We should never stop speaking out about Palestine. Because they would like nothing better.”
“Mahmoud Khalil protested the US Govt financing the murder of his people,” an X user wrote.
“Abducting him in the night, taking him away from his pregnant wife and refusing to share his location is an attack on free speech and blatant fascism.”
Jamie Beran, the CEO of the progressive movement, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, said, “I know in my bones as an American Jew how dangerous it is when the government starts abducting legal residents that they disagree with and i know how doubly dangerous it is when they are claiming to do that in the name of Jewish safety.”
Speaking to press in front of Columbia University, she said that if the Trump administration truly cared about the Jewish people or wanted to end antisemitism, then it would uphold their freedom to speak, study and stand up for their beliefs.
“Abducting Mahmoud Khalil and tearing him away from his family is an affront to freedom and safety for all of us, Jewish people very much included.
“This is a blatant example of how this administration uses antisemitism as a smokescreen to enact its plans to bully, blame and ban people. Abducting Mahmoud does nothing to make Jews safer, in fact, it is just another way the MAGA administration is using antisemitism to generate division and fear.”
‘Shalom, Mahmoud’
The official social media handles for the White House announced the news of Khalil’s arrest and Trump’s statement, opening the tweet with ‘Shalom, Mahmoud’.
Shalom is a Hebrew word used as a salutation by Jewish people at meeting or parting, meaning ‘peace’. However, as with everything they do, there isn’t a hint of peace in the Trump administration’s narrative.
In an Instagram video, Alana called the post state propaganda in real time. She said, “This is how oppression is white-washed. This is how they turn a Palestinian activist, who was literally abducted for resisting a genocide, into a symbol for the very forces trying to silence him.
“This is a tactic as old as colonialism itself, first they erase our history, then they erase the struggle and if that doesn’t work, they repackage it to serve their own agenda. What you are seeing is this government testing the waters in how much they can re-write reality.”
An Instagram user questioned when Hebrew had become the official language of the White House, adding that they normally only posted in English.
By using one word of Hebrew, which serves as Israel’s official language, the Trump administration makes it clear which side they’re supporting. This was a deliberate step, actively taken to highlight what the American president’s stance is — and frankly, has been for as long as Israel’s existed. Trump is not taking an unbiased approach to the situation in Palestine, his social media and deranged comments are enough to tell the world that it’s Israel or bust for him.
Meanwhile, with a crackdown on anyone who isn’t a straight, white, Christian man, the MAGA administration ushers in a new feat — the US is added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist due to threats to civic freedoms under Trump.
In a press release, CIVICUS, the international non-profit focused on civil rights, said, “In 2025, the new administration slashed federal funding for organisations supporting people most in need, dismantled USAID, and reversed progress on justice, inclusion, and diversity.”
The organisation added that Trump’s unprecedented executive orders were “designed to unravel democratic institutions, rule of law, and global cooperation.”
Khalil’s arrest also sets a dangerous precedent for student protesters. For now, it seems, no one is truly safe from the Trump-empowered ICE and DHS, especially those on temporary visas and green cards. To put it into context, green card holders aren’t usually deported except for certain conditions, which include criminal behavior or violations of immigration law. Khalil, on the other hand, was peacefully protesting against the oppression of his people.
What amplifies the problem even further is that under the Trump administration, the US Constitution and its revered First Amendment, do not seem to protect citizens or legal residents.
Additional input from AFP
11 Mar, 2025
DAWN
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia University, was arrested by US immigration officials over the weekend despite holding a permanent residency green card. His crime was participating in pro-Palestine protests at his alma mater.
According to Zeteo News correspondent Prem Thakker, US Immigration and Customs Enforcee and his eight months pregnant wife were just walking in. The officials initially told Khalil his student visa was being revoked and upon learning he was a green card holder, they said the government had revoked
In another video Thakker called the Trump administration’s attempt to detain Khalil “clumsy and haphazard”.
“These agents forced themselves into this apartment building, did not necessarily apparently introduce themselves, demanded to see their identification […] The administration doesn’t seem to know exactly how to justify this very haphazard, unilateral move and is trying to simply appeal to President Trump’s executive orders rather than things like the Constitution.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirming Khalil’s arrest on Sunday, claimed he had “led activities aligned to Hamas” and that the DHS action was taken “in coordination with the Department of State.”
Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, was reportedly at the forefront of the pro-Palestine protests and led the encampments at Columbia that rapidly spread to universities across the US. The demonstration protested Israel’s devastating crimes in Gaza.
President Donald Trump, freshly inaugurated and desperately seeking to expel any dissent to his views, threatened that Khalil’s arrest wasn’t the last.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” he pledged on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said.
Temporary halt
While the Trump administration moves to quickly deport Khalil, who has reportedly been moved to the southern state of Louisiana, a federal judge on Monday ordered authorities to halt proceedings.
The order, seen by AFP, by Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York also called for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Judge Furman put a hold on his deportation “unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
Khalil’s lawyers also urged Furman to order Khalil’s return to New York. They accused the government of seeking to deprive Khalil of access to legal counsel by sending him far from New York.
‘A kidnapping’
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemned Khalil’s arrest, calling it “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American.”
“The government’s actions are obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, in a statement.
On Monday afternoon, over 1,000 protesters gathered in New York to express their outrage at Khalil’s arrest.
“This was essentially a kidnapping,” said 42-year-old Tobi, who declined to give her last name for fear of retaliation.
“It seems like a clear targeting of activists, which is a really, really dangerous precedent,” she said.
“This is a dismal moment in American history. We must not go down this authoritarian path one step further,” said Michael Thaddeu, one of around 50 professors who expressed their concern Monday at a press conference.
The arrest also prompted an outcry from the United Nations, with the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying, “It is crucial to underscore the importance of respecting the right of freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly everywhere.”
‘Protesting genocide is not a crime’
Shortly after the news came to light, social media users, including US politicians, were outraged at Khalil’s arrest and Trump’s plans to deport people for protesting against the atrocities happening in Gaza.
They also highlighted that the move was against the First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, assembly and religion.
Congresswoman Rashida Talib took to X (formerly Twitter) and said Khalil’s arrest was “straight out of the fascist playbook.
“Criminalising dissent is an assault on our First Amendment and freedom of speech. Revoking someone’s green card for expressing their political opinion is illegal. Protesting genocide is not a crime.”
US representative Ilhan Omar called the move “utterly outrageous”, “un-American” and called for Khalil’s release.
“The forced disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil for nothing more than constitutionally protected speech is a clear assault on first amendment rights and a blatant act of authoritarianism.”
American actor Cynthia Nixon said, “Neither Trump nor DHS have the power to singlehandedly revoke someone’s green card, especially not for exercising the right to free speech, a right enshrined in the Constitution. DHS must immediately release Mahmoud Khalil!”
Another social media user called for Khalil’s freedom, highlighting that his detainment and the impending threat of deportation, violated his First Amendment rights.
“It is illegal and unconstitutional. Every single American, no matter where you stand with the Palestinian cause, should be protesting this injustice.”
An X user said Khalil was Trump’s first political prisoner, adding that there was no such crime as anti-semitism because, “In America, you’re allowed to think or say anything you like.
“And they have no evidence he was antisemitic. He was arrested for criticising Israel.”
A netizen said, “because the party of free speech didn’t like HIS free speech — he’s abducted and set for deportation” despite doing everything “MAGAs claim they want”.
‘You’re next’
Activist Alana Hadid, the sister of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, in an Instagram video said, “They can take you right now, no charges, no trial, no explanation, just gone. If you think that can’t happen in America, let me remind you it already has.”
She listed how Japanese Americans were rounded up and put in camps, black civil rights leaders were hunted down and assassinated, Muslims after 9/11 were spied on, detained and disappeared, and now it was Palestinians.
Alana underscored that Khalil was a legal permanent resident but “that did not stop the DHS from grabbing him, threatening his pregnant wife and taking him without charges.
“His wife begged them to explain, his lawyers demanded answers, and they hung up. Why? Because they don’t have to explain, because they know no one will stop them. This is how it happens. They test the waters, they go after the people they think no one will defend. First it’s an activist and a student, then it’s a journalist and then it’s anyone who speaks up.”
An X user said that Khalil was leading non-violent protests and was taken without trial despite being a permanent resident with a wife who is eight months pregnant.
“If we don’t all work to reverse this and end this, you’re eventually next. No matter who you are.”
\
Joshua Reed Eakle, the president of Project Liberal, highlighted that Khalil wasn’t an illegal resident, nor was he a terrorist and the DHS still “snatched him off campus, disappeared him without a trace”.
“No charges. No trial. Just gone. This is how authoritarian regimes operate. It’s what happens when the First Amendment only applies to the ‘right’ kind of people — it’s only a trial balloon for broader crackdown on speech.
“If they can do it to Khalil, they can do it to you.”
Another X user wrote, “Everyone should be shouting from the rooftops demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil. No one is safe in a nation where you can be disappeared for protesting.
“It won’t end with immigrants on green cards. This is a system test. Soon enough, they’ll find a way to come for you too.”
A social media user said Khalil’s arrest was intended to make an example of him and intimidate others from speaking out about Palestine.
“We should never stop speaking out about Palestine. Because they would like nothing better.”
“Mahmoud Khalil protested the US Govt financing the murder of his people,” an X user wrote.
“Abducting him in the night, taking him away from his pregnant wife and refusing to share his location is an attack on free speech and blatant fascism.”
Jamie Beran, the CEO of the progressive movement, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, said, “I know in my bones as an American Jew how dangerous it is when the government starts abducting legal residents that they disagree with and i know how doubly dangerous it is when they are claiming to do that in the name of Jewish safety.”
Speaking to press in front of Columbia University, she said that if the Trump administration truly cared about the Jewish people or wanted to end antisemitism, then it would uphold their freedom to speak, study and stand up for their beliefs.
“Abducting Mahmoud Khalil and tearing him away from his family is an affront to freedom and safety for all of us, Jewish people very much included.
“This is a blatant example of how this administration uses antisemitism as a smokescreen to enact its plans to bully, blame and ban people. Abducting Mahmoud does nothing to make Jews safer, in fact, it is just another way the MAGA administration is using antisemitism to generate division and fear.”
‘Shalom, Mahmoud’
The official social media handles for the White House announced the news of Khalil’s arrest and Trump’s statement, opening the tweet with ‘Shalom, Mahmoud’.
Shalom is a Hebrew word used as a salutation by Jewish people at meeting or parting, meaning ‘peace’. However, as with everything they do, there isn’t a hint of peace in the Trump administration’s narrative.
In an Instagram video, Alana called the post state propaganda in real time. She said, “This is how oppression is white-washed. This is how they turn a Palestinian activist, who was literally abducted for resisting a genocide, into a symbol for the very forces trying to silence him.
“This is a tactic as old as colonialism itself, first they erase our history, then they erase the struggle and if that doesn’t work, they repackage it to serve their own agenda. What you are seeing is this government testing the waters in how much they can re-write reality.”
An Instagram user questioned when Hebrew had become the official language of the White House, adding that they normally only posted in English.
By using one word of Hebrew, which serves as Israel’s official language, the Trump administration makes it clear which side they’re supporting. This was a deliberate step, actively taken to highlight what the American president’s stance is — and frankly, has been for as long as Israel’s existed. Trump is not taking an unbiased approach to the situation in Palestine, his social media and deranged comments are enough to tell the world that it’s Israel or bust for him.
Meanwhile, with a crackdown on anyone who isn’t a straight, white, Christian man, the MAGA administration ushers in a new feat — the US is added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist due to threats to civic freedoms under Trump.
In a press release, CIVICUS, the international non-profit focused on civil rights, said, “In 2025, the new administration slashed federal funding for organisations supporting people most in need, dismantled USAID, and reversed progress on justice, inclusion, and diversity.”
The organisation added that Trump’s unprecedented executive orders were “designed to unravel democratic institutions, rule of law, and global cooperation.”
Khalil’s arrest also sets a dangerous precedent for student protesters. For now, it seems, no one is truly safe from the Trump-empowered ICE and DHS, especially those on temporary visas and green cards. To put it into context, green card holders aren’t usually deported except for certain conditions, which include criminal behavior or violations of immigration law. Khalil, on the other hand, was peacefully protesting against the oppression of his people.
What amplifies the problem even further is that under the Trump administration, the US Constitution and its revered First Amendment, do not seem to protect citizens or legal residents.
Additional input from AFP
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