Judge blocks deportation of Palestinian student activist at Columbia

NEW YORK – A US judge temporarily blocked the deportation of a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University who was arrested over the weekend after he led anti-Israel protests at the Ivy League campus.

Mr Mahmoud Khalil has been challenging his arrest in federal court, arguing it was an unlawful government retaliation for his “constitutionally protected peaceful advocacy”, according to filings by his attorneys in New York federal court.

US District Judge Jesse Furman on March 10 said Mr Khalil “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court orders otherwise”.

He set a hearing on the case for March 12 on Mr Khalil’s request for his return from Louisiana, where he is being detained. 

Mr Khalil was arrested on March 8 at off-campus Columbia housing even though he is a lawful permanent resident, court filings show.

US agents told him that his student visa and green card were revoked by the State Department.

Since then, Mr Khalil has been moved to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre in Jena, Louisiana, one of his lawyers said.

Columbia was the site of prolonged student protests after the Oct 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, which killed 1,200 people.

The US labels Hamas a terrorist organisation.

Israel’s retaliation against Gaza and Hamas has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

‘First of many’

On March 10, President Donald Trump posted on social media that “ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University”.

He said it would be “the first of many to come”.

Green card holders are not typically arrested without a serious criminal offence.

Revoking a green card is usually a prolonged process because the holder has been vetted and is on the path to being eligible to become a US citizen.

After Mr Khalil’s arrest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

Last week, the Trump administration cancelled US$400 million (S$532 million) in federal grants and contracts to Columbia, citing anti-Semitism complaints by Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests.

One of Mr Khalil’s lawyers, Ms Amy Greer, did not immediately respond on March 11 to a request for comment.

After his arrest, she said in a statement: “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.”

Columbia issued a statement saying it would follow federal law.

“Columbia is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting our student body and campus community,” the university said. “We are also committed to the legal rights of our students and urge all members of the community to be respectful of those rights.”

Mr Khalil completed his master’s programme in public administration in December and is set to graduate in May, according to his lawyers. His wife is eight months pregnant.

Mr Khalil, who is Palestinian, was born and raised in Syria, but his family has been displaced and now lives throughout Europe and West Asia, according to his lawyers.

He entered the US in December 2022 on a student visa. 

As an advocate for Palestinian rights, he is “committed to calling on the rest of the world to protect the rights of Palestinians” and to end the violence against them, his lawyers wrote. 

He also “has been a mediator and negotiator, facilitating dialogue between Columbia University’s administration and its students”, they wrote. “In this role, he has advocated on behalf of his peers to be treated humanely and fairly by the university.”

Mr Khalil was subjected in the past two months to “profound” online harassment, leading him to e-mail Columbia administrators for support.

On March 7, he e-mailed interim President Katrina Armstrong, describing the “vicious and dehumanising” campaign against him, including people “falsely labelling him a terrorist threat and calling for his deportation”, according to a March 10 court filing.

Deportation authority

Immigration law experts said the secretary of state has the authority to declare a foreign national deportable if their continued presence is found to be a concern to US foreign policy.

The Board of Immigration Appeals, a Justice Department panel that reviews immigration court rulings, upheld the secretary’s authority in a 1999 deportation case of a former Mexican government official.

The foreigner can still fight to stay in the US under various grounds, including by claiming asylum or for protections under the Convention Against Torture.

Deportation proceedings can take years if the person fighting removal is allowed out of jail, but the process can be far faster for those detained. BLOOMBERG