Khalil “was taken by US government agents in retaliation, essentially, for exercising his First Amendment rights, for speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, for being critical of the US government and of the Israeli government.”
A New York federal judge ordered that prominent Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil be allowed at least one phone call on Wednesday and one on Thursday with his legal counsel – the first contact since his arrest on Saturday.
“We literally have not been able to confer with our client once since he was taken off the streets of New York City,” Ramzi Kassem, an attorney for Khalil, said.
🚨🚨🚨Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team giving statements outside the federal courthouse where he just appeared 🧵 pic.twitter.com/GWV65HlgTG
— Luca Saeed (@cityascanvass) March 12, 2025
A green card holder and recent university graduate, Khalil was arrested by agents of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at his university-owned residence in New York on Saturday night. Despite being informed that Khalil was not in the US on a student visa, but a lawful permanent resident, he was still “wrongfully arrested,” according to his legal team.
Khalil, 29, who served as a lead negotiator during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last April, has not been formally charged.
First Amendment Rights
On Wednesday, Judge Jesse Furman extended his order issued on Monday blocking Khalil’s deportation from the US. Furman had ruled that Khalil “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
Following the hearing, Kassem said outside the court, that Khalil “was taken by US government agents in retaliation, essentially, for exercising his First Amendment rights, for speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, for being critical of the US government and of the Israeli government.”
RELEASE MAHMOUD KHALIL from illegal ICE detention!
Abducting and detaining students over their political ideology represents a significant escalation in the McCarthyite attacks on the student movement for Palestinian liberation.
Read our press release: https://t.co/6tjixbhphQ pic.twitter.com/Npk4ZjIzPh
— Palestine Legal (@pal_legal) March 10, 2025
He said those were the reasons “why he was targeted” and detained, and also why he was moved to a Louisiana detention center for “further retaliation for the fact that on the night of his arrest at home he filed a habeus corpus petition in this court which he also has a constitutional right to do.”
Khalil was moved to Louisiana “to take him away from his lawyers…from accessing this court, … from his family and his support network,” Kassem emphasized.
“And so every day that Mahmoud spends in detention in Louisiana is a day too long. We fully intend to vindicate not just his first amendment rights but those of all Americans and all lawful permanent residents … that it simply cannot be the case that you can be disappeared at night off the streets of New York City.”
Trump’s ‘Executive Orders’
Judge Jesse Furman on Monday blocked Khalil’s deportation from the US, ruling that he “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement on Sunday that Khalil was arrested by ICE in coordination with the Department of State, and “in support of President (Donald) Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.”
SHALOM, MAHMOUD.
“ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of @Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come.” –President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/gfuPd0tskf
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2025
“Khalil led activities aligned to (the Palestinian group) Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” the statement claimed.
Describing Khalil as a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student,” President Donald Trump defended his detention, calling it “the first arrest 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 stated.
Congress Members Slam Arrest
Fourteen members of the US Congress demanded on Tuesday the immediate release of Khalil, calling his arrest “a direct assault” on the freedom of speech.
‘Assault’ on Free Speech – US Lawmakers Demand Mahmoud Khalil’s Release
He was “effectively disappeared by DHS,” the letter pointed out, adding that he was transferred over 13 miles away from his home to an ICE facility in central Louisiana “following the filing of a habeas corpus petition on his behalf in New York City shortly after his arrest.”
“Based on these facts, Khalil’s constitutional rights have been violated,” the lawmakers stressed, adding that he has been “denied meaningful access” to counsel and any visitation from his family.
“This is absolutely unacceptable—and illegal,” the letter emphasized.
The lawmakers emphasized that Khalil “has not been charged or convicted of any crime.”
“As the Trump administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader and negotiator” for the student movement protesting “the Israeli government’s brutal assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza and his university’s complicity in this oppression,” they said.
Crowds gather in New York City to show solidarity with Mahmoud Khalil, demanding his release as he appears in federal court. Protesters continue to stand against the crackdown on pro-Palestine activism. pic.twitter.com/cpdxPCsUqD
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 12, 2025
“We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country,” the letter added.
‘We are Not Alone’ – Khalil’s Wife
Khalil’s wife, a US citizen, and eight months pregnant, issued a statement saying “my husband was kidnapped from our home.”
“And it is shameful that the United States government continues to hold him because he stood for the rights and lives of his people,” she said in the statement read by a member of Khalil’s legal team outside the court.
Mahmoud Khalil’s wife issued a statement, read by his lawyer Shezza Abboushi Dallal: https://t.co/XwM8Sy3uN4 pic.twitter.com/CC1NBjhnTx
— Luca Saeed (@cityascanvass) March 12, 2025
“I demand his immediate release and return to our family. His disappearance has devastated our lives. Every day without him is filled with uncertainty. Not just for me but for our entire family and community,” the letter added.
“And yet we are not alone. So many who know and love Mahmoud have come together refusing to stay silent. Their support is a testament to his character and to the deep injustice of what is being done to him,” it concluded.
Khalil’s lawyers have asked for his return to New York, with Judge Furman setting a schedule for the lawyers “to file arguments as to where the case should be heard,” the New York Times reported.
‘National Security’ Claims
The paper also reported that Trump’s border czar, Thomas Homan, said on Wednesday that Khalil was considered “a national security threat,” and accused him of handing out leaflets “inciting violence on campus.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court on Wednesday demanding Khalil’s release.
Prof. Howley spoke at press conference today, about the months-long campaign to mischaracterize student protest on campus as antisemitic, whereas student were protesting the genocide in Gaza and asking Columbia to divest from war funds. https://t.co/BmSEJS3aQG
— fsjp-cbt (@Fsjp_cbt) March 12, 2025
The Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) called Khalil’s detention “unlawful and unjust” and vowed to “not let Columbia get away with this.”
An online petition has been launched for his immediate release.
ACTION ALERT: Sign and share the petition!! Mahmoud is a Palestinian student at Columbia University illegally detained by ICE under order from the White House. His wife is 8 months pregnant and Mahmoud’s location is unknown. #FreeMahmoudKhalil https://t.co/p3uAAVf2As
— Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) (@Columbia_psc) March 10, 2025
“Columbia’s continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible,” the petition noted.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
