WASHINGTON – A legal permanent resident who helped organize a Palestinian protest at Columbia University remained in US immigration and customs enforcement custody Monday after a weekend arrest.

Ice Agent arrested Mahmoud Khalil on Saturday, saying he was initially acting on the State Department’s order to cancel his student visa. Amy Greer, Halil’s lawyer He told the Associated Press When she informed ICE that he was a green card holder, authorities said they had revoked the position.

Federal judge in New York I have issued an order Until late Monday, until the Trump administration ordered “if not” to ban Halil from deporting him.

The arrest shows an attempt to expand the administration’s right to deportation, as civil rights groups say they are violating the Constitution, without claiming a violation of immigration law.

President Donald Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social that he would seek more arrests and fuse opposition to Israeli war in Gaza in support of terrorist group Hamas.

“This is the first arrest of many people going forward,” Trump wrote. “We will find these terrorist sympathizers from our country, arrest them and deport them. They will never return. If we support terrorism, including the massacre of innocent men, women and children, your presence is against the interests of our national and foreign policy and is not welcome here.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote in a social media post late Sunday that the arrests were made under a signed executive order targeting anti-Semitism.

“On March 9, 2025, in support of President Trump’s executive order banning anti-Semitism and coordinating with the State Department, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia graduate student.” DHS wrote. “Halil led activities along Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

Trump added that he expects his administration to “comply with all American universities and universities.”

I moved to Louisiana

Greer told the Associated Press that authorities were not clear about the reasons for the arrest.

“We couldn’t get any more details as to why he was in custody,” she said. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is tracking that threat.”

Halil, originally taken to a New Jersey detention facility, was held Monday at an ice facility in Jena, Louisiana, Ice Facility, according to the Ice Detainees Locator System.

The Khalil lawsuit is believed to be the first time the administration has launched deportation procedures for pro-Palestinian protesters after the president vowed to crack down on students who opposed the war in Gaza.

Born in Syria, Halil earned a master’s degree from Columbia University and served as a key negotiator between students and university officials who will close their campus ground camp last spring.

Greer said immigration agents threatened to arrest Halil’s wife, an eight-month pregnant US citizen.

Columbia’s Public Relations Office issued a statement Sunday confirming that Ice had been arrested on campus.

State Department involvement

In order for a green card holder to revoke his status, he must file accusations of violating immigration laws and trial before holding an immigration judge before a decision is made. There are approximately 12.8 million legal permanent residents, According to DHS data.

However, while the State Department itself cannot revoke a green card under US immigration law, the Secretary of State requires that an individual’s green card be revoked and if the individual’s presence determines that it has “potentially serious and unfavorable foreign policy consequences,” the person can face deportation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a news article on Khalil’s arrest on Sunday. I wrote it “We can cancel the visas and green cards of American Hamas supporters and they can be deported.”

The State Department did not respond to an investigation from the state newsroom asking whether Rubio specifically requested Khalil’s arrest.

Anti-Semitism cited

Presidential Order Trump’s signing in late January directs heads of state, DHS and education sectors to encourage higher education institutions to “recommended ways to monitor and report on the activities of alien students and staff related to those grounds, and to ensure that such reports of such aliens will investigate and litigation to remove such aliens, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”

The arrest follows Friday’s decision from the Trump administration Federal grants and contracts cancel $400 million Columbia University has accused Ivy League schools of not protecting Jewish students.

Protests across the university campus have erupted in response to the Israel-Hamas War, in which thousands of Palestinians have been killed since it began in 2023.

Republicans characterize anti-war protests as preservatives and support terrorist group Hamas, rather than protests against civilian casualties in Gaza.

Civil rights groups in New York accused the arrest of violating First Amendment’s freedom of speech protection.

“The Trump administration’s detention of Mahmoud Khalil — a green card holder who is legally studying in the country — is targeted, retaliatory and an extreme attack on his first right to revise,” the New York Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

Last updated at 5:22pm, March 10, 2025