As hundreds of demonstrators rallied in New York City on Monday to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a federal judge just steps away blocked the Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate’s removal from the United States.
Judge Jesse M. Furman said Khalil is to remain in the U.S. “to preserve the court’s jurisdiction” as the court weighs a filing challenging his arrest and planned deportation. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday at federal court in New York City.
Khalil attended Columbia University and helped organize protests last spring about the war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. He was arrested by federal immigration agents Saturday over what officials said was his support for a designated terror organization, Hamas.
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in New York City on Monday to demand his release after President Donald Trump said Khalil’s was the “first arrest of many to come.”
Khalil was hauled away from his university-owned apartment Saturday night by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after he was told his student visa was being revoked, his attorney said in a statement. Attorney Amy Greer added that ICE was informed that Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card but “detained him anyway.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was arrested in coordination with ICE and the State Department “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” because he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
People protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil in New York City, on Monday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post Sunday on X that the administration would be revoking the visas and green cards “of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Trump said Khalil’s arrest was the first of many to come.
“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 on Truth Social. “Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
Trump and his administration did not provide evidence of those allegations against Khalil or any other protesters.
The People’s Forum organized the rally at Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Monday afternoon and has demanded that Khalil be released immediately
“Hands off our students! ICE off our campuses!” the group posted on X.
Monday afternoon protesters filled the commons and quickly amassed into the hundreds, some carrying “Release Mahmoud Khalil” signs as an American Civil Liberties Union protest monitor watched.
New York Police Department officers were quick to line the plaza, establishing boundaries for the event, but no arrests were seen as the first hour passed.
Susan, 71, from Brooklyn, declined to give her last name. She said she participated in a previous protest and now decries Khalil’s arrest as a “ridiculous” crackdown on freedom of speech.
Among the protesters were students from area City of New York University campuses, who gathered in front of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Protesters joined in unison to chant “free, free Palestine,” “ICE off our campus now,” “Release Mahmoud Khalil now,” and, “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.”
Susan, 71, a resident from the New York City borough of Brooklyn, who did not give her last name, held a pair of signs that state, “Release Mahmoud Khalil.”
She called his arrest an attack on free speech. “It’s getting ridiculous,” she said.
A member of Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish anti-Zionist organization, said from the protest stage that religion was being used to try to justify what’s happening to Palestinians.
“We will fight for our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” she said, adding that the group advised its members not to give their names as a safety precaution.
Speaking from the stage, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York ACLU, demanded that Khalil be released immediately, calling his arrest “a gross violation of his constitutional rights.”
Khalil was described by speakers on stage as a political prisoner who helped negotiate the conclusion of pro-Palestinian rallies, including a campus encampment, at Columbia. Similar protests took place at more than 40 campuses nationwide last spring
A march followed remarks by speakers.
The nonprofit organization Action Network launched a petition that said more than 900,000 letters had been sent calling for Khalil’s release.
Greer said her office filed a petition challenging the validity of his detention and does not know where he is being held. It was initially believed that agents took Khalil to a facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but his wife was told he was not there when she tried to visit. His wife is a U.S. citizen and eight months pregnant.
The Department of Homeland Security website states Khalil is being held at an immigration detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.
“We will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud’s rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable — and calculated — wrong committed against him,” she said.
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said the arrest was a “blatantly unconstitutional act.”
“America is supposed to be a country of laws, but this act by the DHS challenges that very concept,” Awawdeh said in a statement. “DHS must immediately release Khalil, and our local elected officials must intervene in this unlawful and politically motivated detention of a New Yorker.”
The New York ACLU said Khalil’s detainment was an “extreme attack on his First Amendment rights.”
“Ripping a student from their home, challenging their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint will chill student speech and advocacy across campus,” a statement read. “Political speech should never be a basis for punishment, or lead to deportation.”
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the decision to arrest him was “lawless.”
Maryam Alwan, a 22-year-old Columbia student involved in the pro-Palestinian movement on campus, told NBC News she has felt intense anxiety since Khalil’s arrest. “I didn’t sleep all night,” she said Monday. “It doesn’t really feel real.”
Alwan was born and raised in Virginia, but “I would not be surprised if American citizens were the next targets,” she said.
Alwan was arrested and suspended in April after the university called police officers to clear a sprawling tent encampment. Then, in early January, she was notified that she was being investigated by the university’s Office of Institutional Equity. The email accused her of having been involved in writing an unsigned op-ed, published in the student newspaper on Oct. 19, calling for divestment from Israel.
The investigators said the op-ed in the Columbia Spectator may have subjected other students to “unwelcome conduct” based on their religion, national origin or military service, among other allegations.
Columbia’s Office of Institutional Equity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Columbia said Sunday in a statement that law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter nonpublic university areas, including campus buildings.
“Columbia is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting our student body and campus community,” the university said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Read the full article here
