ICE Arrests Palestinian Green Card Holder Who Helped Lead Columbia's Gaza Solidarity Camp

Federal agents on Saturday arrested a prominent Palestinian activist and permanent U.S. resident who says the arresting officers told him his green card had been revoked.

Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, who is eight months pregnant, were returning home at around 8:30 pm Saturday when plainclothes Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents "pushed in behind them," advocates for Khalil told Zeteo's Prem Thakker. Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents also threatened to arrest his wife.

Last week, the U.S. State Department announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered "catch and revoke" program to cancel the visas of international students deemed supportive of Hamas. This, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January authorizing the deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza.

"Clearly Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda fighting and attacking higher education and the Ivy League education system," Khalil told Reuters Saturday before his arrest.

Thakker reported:

The agents claimed that the State Department had revoked Khalil's student visa, with one agent presenting what he claimed was a warrant on his cell phone. But Khalil, according to advocates, has a green card. Khalil's wife went to their apartment to get the green card.

"He has a green card," an agent apparently said on the phone, confused by the matter. But then after a moment, the agent claimed that the State Department had "revoked that too."

Experts said that revoking a green card is very rare and typically only occurs when a permanent resident has committed a serious crime, engages in immigration fraud, or clearly demonstrates intent to abandon their status.

"This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didn't like," Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of New York legal service providers, told Huffpost.

Khalil graduated in December with a master's degree from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. He was also a lead negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest during the April 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which drew international attention as Israeli forces killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and annihilated much of their homeland. Khalil was briefly suspended last spring for his protest activities.

Elora Mukherjee, director of the immigrants' rights clinic at Columbia Law School, told The New York Times that if the Trump administration revoked Khalil's green card "in retaliation for his public speech, that is prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said late Sunday that Khalil was arrested "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism."

"Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization," McLaughlin added. "ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump's executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security."

However, Greer said that "we will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud's rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable—and calculated—wrong committed against him."

Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement that "this blatantly unconstitutional act sends a deplorable message that freedom of speech is no longer protected in America."

The Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, which represents more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate student workers, urged Columbia staff and students to oppose the school's "cooperation with the Trump administration."

“By allowing ICE on campus, Columbia is surrendering to the Trump administration's assault on universities across the country and sacrificing international students to protect its finances," the union said in a statement.

Last week, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, claiming the school—which cracked down hard on Gaza protesters—hasn't done enough to combat antisemitism.

The Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) coalition noted that "Columbia University has published guidance on how best to collaborate with federal enforcement, including advising faculty and staff 'not to interfere' with ICE agents even if those agents are unable to present a warrant."

"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible."

"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible," WAWOG argued.

"A Palestinian student and member of the community has been abducted and detained without the physical demonstration of a warrant or officially filed charges," the coalition continued. "Like many other Arab and Muslim students, Khalil has been the target of various Zionist harassment campaigns, fueled by doxxing websites like Canary Mission."

"This racist targeting serves to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others," WAWOG added.