A sign reading ‘Release Mahmoud Khalil’ rests against a fence during a pro-Palestinian protest outside of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
hide caption
toggle caption
Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
A sign reading ‘Release Mahmoud Khalil’ rests against a fence during a pro-Palestinian protest outside of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
In January of 1987, Michel Shehadeh, a Palestinian man who’d lawfully immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, was taking care of his toddler son at home when federal agents arrived at his door and arrested him at gunpoint. Shehadeh soon learned he was one of eight immigrants arrested on charges relating to their pro-Palestinian activism.
Then, in March of 2025, federal agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate student, and Georgetown professor Badar Khan Suri. Both are in the U.S. legally, being threatened with deportation. And both are targets of the Trump administration’s crackdown on what they describe as anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas speech on college campuses.
We hear from David Cole, who represented the Los Angeles Eight for insight into this moment, and what we can learn from their plight.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Kira Wakeam. It was edited by Sarah Handel and Nadia Lancy. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.