US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that the arrest and potential deportation of a Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, involved in leading protests at Columbia University is “the first of many to come” as his administration intensifies its crackdown on campus demonstrations.
“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. 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,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here,” he added.
Trump’s remarks followed the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful US resident and former Columbia graduate student, who was taken into custody by federal immigration agents in New York on Saturday and transported to an immigration facility in Louisiana.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Khalil’s arrest stemmed from Trump’s executive orders against antisemitism. No criminal charges have been filed against Khalil concerning his involvement in campus demonstrations at the university last year.
The arrest sparked immediate condemnation from civil liberties organisations and free speech defenders, who claimed the government was misusing immigration enforcement to suppress criticism of Israel.
Earlier on Friday evening, immigration officers attempted to detain another international student at Columbia but were denied entry to the residence, as reported by the student’s union representative. The student remains unnamed, and the reasons for ICE’s visit are uncertain.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced via X on Sunday that the administration would be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Khalil represents the first known case of detention for deportation under Trump’s pledged suppression of student protests. Trump contends that protesters supporting Hamas, the Gaza-controlling Palestinian group designated as terrorist organisation by the US, have forfeited their right to remain in the country.
According to the Associated Press, Khalil and fellow student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have denied antisemitism allegations, maintaining they are part of a larger anti-war movement that includes Jewish participants and organisations.
However, the protest coalition has occasionally expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah leadership, both classified as terrorist organisations by the US.
The timeline for Khalil’s immigration court hearing remains uncertain. This hearing typically initiates the deportation process. Deportation of permanent residents usually requires substantial justification, such as conviction of specific criminal offences.
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
Khalil, a key activist in the Columbia University protests, was born in Syria to Palestinian parents. He is married to an American citizen, and his wife is currently eight months pregnant.
Khalil earned a master’s degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs last semester.
Before that, he graduated with a computer science degree from the Lebanese American University in Beirut and worked at the British Embassy in Beirut’s Syria office, according to his biography on the Society for International Development’s website.