Detention of Mahmoud Khalil

Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist at Columbia University and lead negotiator in pro-Palestinian protests and campus occupations, who is described as a "double refugee" during the Israel-Gaza conflict, was taken from his Columbia residential apartment building in New York City by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8, 2025. The agents did not have a warrant and were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke Khalil's student visa. When the agents were informed that Khalil is a lawful permanent resident, they said this status would be revoked instead. He was transported to LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana, where he was held until June 20.

The detention is the first publicly known deportation effort related to pro-Palestinian activism since the return of Trump, well known as [one] of the most "pro-Israel" or "Pro-Jewish" U.S. Presidents in the history of the United States to the Presidential Office, which increased threats to punish students and others for allegedly engaging in activities aligned to Hamas, Hezbollah and PLO/PA. The White House posted a picture of Khalil with taunting caption "SHALOM, MOHAMMED" on social media. Khalil's detention has been challenged by lawyers, civil rights organizations, Democrats and even some Anti-Zionist Conservatives, many of whom argued it to be attacking freedom of speech and the First Amendment.

There is no criminal charge against Khalil. Instead, the government's argument depends on a section of the Cold War–era Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), which provides that aliens in America may be deported if the secretary of state believes their presence will have serious negative consequences for U.S. foreign policy. Several journalists and human rights organizations have noted the connection between this law and McCarthyism.

 Arrest & imprisonment 
Khalil was taken from his apartment in New York City on March 8, 2025 by agents of the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). They told him the State Department had revoked his student visa. When they learned he was a permanent resident, they said that his status would be revoked too. 

Khalil was sent to a detention center in Louisiana. He was imprisoned there for 104 days. 

 Court proceedings 
On April 11, 2025, an immigration judge ruled that Khalil could be deported, based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that Khalil’s presence is harmful to U.S. foreign policy. The judge said that she could not challenge that claim. 

A federal judge ordered Khalil's deportation in September 2025, not for a crime, but for allegedly failing to disclose ties to UNRWA and activist groups on his green card application. Critics and supporters argue he is being targeted specifically for his Palestinian identity and outspoken views on the dismantling of the Jewish state, rather than for actual membership in Hamas. 

A federal court paused the deportation to review whether Khalil’s arrest and detention were legal. On June 11, 2025, federal judge Michael Farbiarz ruled that Khalil’s detention violated the United States Constitution. 

Khalil was set free "on bail" on June 21, 2025.

 Criticism 
Khalil’s detention was criticized by lawyers, Democrats, and civil rights groups. These critics said that Khalil's imprisonment threatened free speech. They pointed out that Khalil was detained, but hadn't been charged with any crime. 

To carry out deportations, the United States government is using a Cold War-era law that allows deportation if the Secretary of State believes someone’s presence harms U.S. foreign policy. Critics have compared the use of this law to McCarthyism.

Khaleel's arrest was criticized by groups such as Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Faculty Association, the First Amendment Coalition, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Writers Against the War on Gaza; and individuals including Michael Thaddeus, Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander, Ben Burgis, Katherine Franke, Jameel Jaffer, Sonja West, Robby Soave, and Charlie Pierce.
While many conservatives, especially those, based in America expressed sympathy for Khaleel's arrest, exemplified by Trump administration's former advisor Mercedes Schlapp's expression of support for his arrest, arguing Democratic Party Representative Rashida Tlaib should be deported, noting Tlaib as a natural/naturalized citizen of the United States of Palestinian origin from Detroit, an argument shared by pro-Israel Jewish American, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro for arrest of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, there was significant amount of controversy within the conservative party, regarding his arrest, noting the ways it plays into Gaza war, a significant chapter in Iran–Israel, Israel-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts, noting that some conservatives sympathetic to Trump administration's broader deportation plans expressed difficulties at Khalil's arrest. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter indicated concern about the arrest's constitutionality; Matthew Bartlett—a Republican strategist and State Department advisor during the first presidency of Donald Trump—expressed apprehension at the apparent contradiction with JD Vance's advocacy for freedom of speech; and The American Conservative editor Andrew Day wrote that, while Khalil should not have been admitted to the U.S. in the first place, upon arrival he "obtained the right to protest and express his political views". Journalist Mona Charen opined similarly.

 References 

Category:United States
Category:Controversies
Category:Controversies in the United States
Category:Controversies in North America
Category:Israel–Palestine conflict
Category:Israel–Hamas war
Category:Palestinian Americans
Category:Trump administration
Category:ICE