Search Articles
MANHATTAN (CN) — A federal judge on Monday ordered that a Palestinian Columbia University graduate who the Trump administration is trying to deport for leading campus protests against Israel “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court orders otherwise.”
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, a Barack Obama appointee in the Southern District of New York, issued the ruling after Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities over the weekend. Khalil was a graduate student at the Ivy League school until December 2024, where he played a pivotal role in organizing highly publicized protests against Israel’s bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Now, Khalil is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after federal agents stormed the lobby of his apartment building and detained him Saturday, Khalil said in a habeas corpus complaint filed Sunday.
“On the evening of March 8, 2025, at approximately 8:30 p.m., M.K. and his wife were returning to their Columbia University-owned apartment from a friend’s home,” Khalil said in the filing obtained by Courthouse News. “When they arrived at their apartment building, M.K. and his wife were approached by approximately four people who were dressed in plain clothes.”
The individuals identified themselves as federal agents and told Khalil they were taking him into custody, he said in the petition, even though he presented them with paperwork showing he is a lawful permanent resident with a green card. The agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, who is eight months pregnant, Khalil claimed.
“The agent looked confused when he saw the documents and said, ‘He has a green card,’” Khalil continued in the filing. “M.K.’s wife heard the agent repeat that they were being ordered to bring M.K. in anyway.”
Khalil’s lawyer Amy Greer said she spoke to agents on the phone the night of the arrest. When they told her they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa, Greer reminded them that Khalil was a lawful permanent resident. One of the agents replied that “the Department of State had revoked M.K.’s green card, too.”
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the arrest Monday morning, writing in a statement that Khalil was detained pursuant to “President [Donald] Trump’s executive orders prohibiting antisemitism.”
“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” McLaughlin claimed.
Trump also confirmed the arrest Monday afternoon, when he referred to Khalil as a “radical foreign pro-Hamas student on the campus of Columbia University” in a social media post.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump said. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it.”
Khalil claims that his arrest is retaliatory, discriminatory and a “blatant” effort to “target and chill” speech the federal government doesn’t like. He’s seeking a court order that finds that his detention violates his First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.
“ICE’s arrest and detention of M.K. follow the U.S. government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza,” Khalil said in his petition. “The U.S. government has made clear that they will use immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress that speech.”
According to ICE’s detainee portal, Khalil is being held at a detention center in Jena, Louisiana. But his location wasn’t immediately made clear to his lawyer or his wife, who after the arrest was left with “no business card or any information at all as to how to find out where her husband will be taken.”
Judge Furman set a conference in the case for Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. His ruling came down as hundreds of protesters marched in Lower Manhattan demanding Khalil’s immediate release from federal custody.
The incident has enraged both immigration activists and supporters of Palestinian rights. The New York Immigration Coalition on Monday called for Khalil’s immediate release and lambasted the Trump administration’s “politically motivated detention of a New Yorker.”
“Targeting a student activist is an affront to the rights of Mahmoud Khalil and his family,” the coalition said in a statement. “This blatantly unconstitutional act sends a deplorable message that freedom of speech is no longer protected in America. Furthermore, Khalil and all people living in the United States are afforded due process. A green card can only be revoked by an immigration judge, showing once again that the Trump administration is willing to ignore the law in order to instill fear and further its racist agenda.”
Khalil wrapped up his master’s degree in public administration in December 2024, and had an anticipated graduation date of May 2025. His advocacy at Columbia centered around his role as a negotiator on behalf of student protesters, who tried to get the university to divest funds from Israel by pitching a tent encampment on campus last spring.
Follow @Uebey
Follow @uebey.bsky.socialSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.