A judge has intervened to stop the federal government from immediately deporting a Palestinian student who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
A federal judge in New York has temporarily blocked any effort by the Trump administration to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student and permanent resident who led pro-Palestinian encampment protests at Columbia University after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group.
U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York
ordered on March 10 that Khalil—who was arrested over the weekend—must not be deported until further legal proceedings have played out and the court potentially authorizes his removal from the United States.
“To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” Furman wrote.
The judge set a March 12 hearing to consider the case of Khalil, whose arrest was celebrated by President Donald Trump and the White House but denounced by Democrats and some civil rights groups.
In a
statement on Truth Social, Trump praised Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for arresting Khalil, calling him a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student.”
The president said that Khalil’s apprehension was the “first arrest of many to come” and warned that additional detentions would target individuals engaged in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity” on college campuses nationwide.
“Many are not students, they are paid agitators,” Trump wrote. “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.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
said Khalil was taken into custody as a result of Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism after having “led activities aligned with Hamas.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored the administration’s stance in a
post on social media platform X, stating that the government “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” He did not provide further details on the policy implementation.
Khalil’s detention sparked opposition from a constellation of critics, including congressional Democrats, who
demanded that he be freed immediately.
Some civil rights groups and free speech advocates accused the Trump administration of using its immigration enforcement powers to suppress criticism of Israel.
“This arrest is unprecedented, illegal, and un-American,” Ben Wizner, a director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a
statement. “The federal government is claiming the authority to deport people with deep ties to the U.S. and revoke their green cards for advocating positions that the government opposes.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights advocacy group,
alleged in a statement that Khalil’s arrest was motivated by his protests against the Israeli military’s anti-Hamas operations in Gaza and “represents a blatant attack on the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, immigration laws, and the very humanity of Palestinians.”
The Epoch Times reached out to ICE for comment on the case.
Khalil’s arrest coincides with the Trump administration’s
move to revoke $400 million in federal grants and contracts from Columbia University, citing the institution’s alleged failure to address anti-Semitic incidents and harassment of Jewish students on campus.
Following the Hamas attack and Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza, student-led protests erupted at universities across the United States, including Columbia. Last spring, pro-Palestinian activists organized a prolonged encampment and occupied a campus building.
This past week, Trump reaffirmed his opposition to such demonstrations.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote in a
post on Truth Social. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested.”
Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong,
said on March 7 that the university will cooperate with federal agencies and pledged “serious action” against campus anti-Semitism.
