The Columbia University grad, who helped organize the school’s pro-Palestinian rallies, was detained Saturday night and told his student visa was being revoked, his attorney said.
Summary
A federal judge blocked the removal of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from the U.S. after his arrest by ICE.
Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who helped organize pro-Palestinian protests, was arrested Saturday by ICE agents who claimed his visa was revoked for supporting Hamas.
The Trump administration continues to claim he violated an executive order prohibiting anti-Semitism, though no evidence was provided. Protesters in NYC demand his release, calling the arrest unconstitutional.
His location remains unclear. The ACLU and immigrant rights groups argue the detention violates free speech, warning it sets a dangerous precedent.
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.
Who wants to be they will deport him anyway? "oopsie, we all make mistakes, right?"
To be clear, this man could've been lifting "I love Hamas" signs and his arrest would still be unconstitutional. Don't let them make this an "antisemitism" problem.
I have a fake/throwaway account on X and thought I'd check the vibe there. I was shocked how the majority of Trump supporters were arguing that constitutional rights only apply to US citizens.
Their level of confidence in being ignorant is just...wow. Scary.
Agree with you ofc, just want to add how ironic it is that supporting Arabs (who are Semites) is antisemitic but nazis who are explicitly anti-Jewish are not..but ofc the fash and doublespeak.
This is an open and shut case: he had his 1st Amendment rights taken away and the ICE agents have violated the Constitution. Therefore, all agents involved must be punished to the letter of the law, no leeway or amnesty. Full stop.
Antisemitism is only when leftists and brown people.
Unfortunately this is not limited to the US. Israel has employed the same strategy of shaping policies allegedly protecting Jews against antisemitism in that way. In Germany they did the same, where a recent parliament resolution mentioned crticising Israel at the Berlinale 2024 an antisemitic act, while a Neonazi trying to storm into a synagogue and murder Jews on a Jewish holiday a few years back in Halle was not even mentioned.
It is a tool to downplay actual antisemitism, because nazis are often down for the idea of a fascist ethnostate, while it is used to attack leftists and non white people, as those are often opposed to such a state.
because nazis are often down for the idea of a fascist ethnostate
There's a very striking historical picture of a Nation of Islam summit in the US (while Malcolm X was still a member), and in the audience, front and center, is the American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell, flanked by two other members with armbands and everything. Rockwell was there because, despite the obvious ideological tensions, both groups ultimately saw common cause on separatism.
Zionism benefits from making Jewish people feel that they are unwelcome outside of the Zionist ethnostate. Nazis want Jewish people to be gone, and them leaving for the Zionist Regime is a realistic and legal option for them. Real antisemitism benefits both these horrible movements.
Literal white supremacists with tiki torches shouting “Jews will not replace us!”? Proud Boys beating people in the streets? Patriot Front marching with Nazi flags?
Definitely not anti-Semitic!
But students calling for the end of apartheid and genocide of an ethnic group being tortured and exterminated on their native land?
The meaning of the word “terrorist” has become meaningless after being abused by governments like the US for decades. It’s now just a rhetorical key they turn to justify fascist actions like this arrest.
Definitely illegal, and definitely a test balloon for what types of executive authority they can get away with.
They chose Khalil specifically because of the subject of his protesting - they might get a handful of judges that allow this abuse because of the near-universal bipartisan support for Israel.
Whether or not this sticks will be an indicator on how far the US slips into fascism, and I'm certainly hopeful this gets reversed quickly.