LIVE: Pro-Mahmoud Khalil Protesters Clash With NYPD, Arrests Made as Columbia Grad Faces Deportation
Demonstrators gather at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist at Columbia University detained by U.S. immigration authorities.
Columbia University student-activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Saturday (March 8). It was one of the first efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement. Trump administration officials have accused Khalil of supporting the Palestinian group Hamas, labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, but Khalil’s lawyers say his protest activity was protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Khalil, a Palestinian raised in Syria, arrived in the United States on a student visa to pursue a graduate degree in public administration. He became a lawful permanent resident last year. Khalil was an outspoken activist at Columbia University, which experienced some of the biggest protests against the war Israel launched against Hamas after it killed more than 1,000 Israelis in an October 2023 attack.
