(NewsNation) — Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has been arrested at New York’s Columbia University as part of President Donald Trump’s promise to crack down on what he calls illegal campus protests.
Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer, told the Associated Press that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers entered Khalil’s university-owned apartment, just blocks from Columbia’s Manhattan campus, and arrested him on Saturday night.
The agents claimed they were acting on a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s green card, Greer said.
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
Khalil, who was actively involved in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last spring, was one of few protesters to publicly share his name.
Khalil is a legal, permanent U.S. resident who grew up in Syria, according to his attorney, and is married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.
Greer told the Associated Press that Khalil’s wife does not know his whereabouts and that authorities have declined to explain his detention to her.
Khalil has since been transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to the Associated Press.
One ICE officer told Greer by phone that they were executing a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed that Khalil, who graduated in December, was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.
Columbia University contracts canceled over antisemitism allegations
The Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post that it had arrested Khalil because he has “led activities aligned to Hamas,” without elaborating.
A Homeland Security spokesperson said Khalil’s arrest aligns with the Trump administration’s threats to deport foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. The administration has claimed that by allegedly supporting Hamas against Israel’s war in Gaza, students have forfeited their right to remain in the U.S.
Trump emphasized this stance on Tuesday, vowing that “agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came.”
The administration has placed particular scrutiny on Columbia, announcing Friday that it would be cutting $400 million in grants and contracts because of what the government described as the school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.
Civil rights union slams Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest
The New York Civil Liberties Union condemned Khalil’s arrest, calling it “a frightening escalation” and “retaliation by the Trump administration.”
A spokesperson for Columbia University said the school is unable to share information about students due to legal restrictions but emphasized the university’s commitment to protecting students’ legal rights.
The spokesperson also noted that law enforcement agents must produce a warrant before entering university property but declined to say if the school had received a warrant for Khalil’s arrest, per the Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.