US authorities arrest Palestinian student protester at Columbia University

NEW YORK - US immigration agents arrested a Palestinian graduate student who has played a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests at New York’s Columbia University as part of US President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on some anti-Israel activists.

Mr Mahmoud Khalil, a student at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested by US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents at his university residence on the evening of March 8, the Student Workers of Columbia labour union said in a statement.

According to news reports, his wife is a US citizen and eight months pregnant.

The union said Mr Khalil holds a US permanent residency green card.

His arrest was condemned by civil rights groups as an attack on protected political speech.

In an interview with Reuters hours before his arrest on March 8, Mr Khalil said he was concerned that he was being targeted by the government for speaking to the media.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared a news report of Mr Khalil’s arrest on social media on March 9, adding the comment: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

He did not elaborate, and spokespeople for Mr Rubio did not respond to questions.

The DHS said in a social media post that it had arrested Mr Khalil because he has “led activities aligned to Hamas”, without elaborating.

DHS spokespeople did not respond to Reuters questions.

US law forbids providing “material support or resources” to groups the US has designated as terrorist organisations, including Hamas, the Palestinian-nationalist Islamist group that governs Gaza and controls the territory’s militant wing.

That law does not define or prohibit “activities aligned to” these groups, and DHS spokespeople did not respond to questions about their accusation.

Neither department has said Mr Khalil is accused of giving material support to Hamas, or of any other crime.

Mr Khalil’s detention is one of the first efforts by Mr Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January, to fulfil his promise to

seek the deportation of some foreign students

involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which he has called anti-Semitic.

The Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and subsequent US-supported Israeli assault on Gaza have led to months of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests that have roiled college campuses in the US and overseas.

Mr Khalil calls it an anti-war movement that includes Jewish students and groups, who reject anti-Semitism allegations.

He was one of the lead negotiators with school administrators for the pro-Palestinian student protesters, some of whom set up tent encampments on Columbia lawns in 2024 and seized control of an academic building for several hours before Columbia called in police to arrest them.

He was not among the several dozen students who ccupied the building, but was a mediator between Columbia vice-provosts and the protesters.

Some Israeli and Jewish students have said the protests have been threatening and disruptive and have organised pro-Israel counter-protests.

The New York Civil Liberties Union said Mr Khalil’s detention was unlawful, retaliatory and an attack on free speech rights.

Ms Donna Lieberman, the group’s executive director, said in a statement the detention “is a frightening escalation of Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, and an aggressive abuse of immigration law”.

According to an online biography, Mr Khalil grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in his native Syria and has worked for the British embassy in Beirut.

According to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) online detainee locator, he was being held on March 9 at an ICE detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Mr Khalil’s wife declined to comment through one of his fellow students.

A spokesperson for Columbia said the school was barred by law from sharing information about individual students, but said in a statement the school was “committed to the legal rights of our students”.

Spokespeople for Mr Trump did not respond to questions.

Trump cancels contracts

Mr Trump has singled out Columbia for its handling of student protesters and has quickly increased pressure on the school: Mr Khalil’s arrest came a day after the Trump administration said it had cancelled government contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University worth about US$400 million (S$532.9 million).

It said the cuts and the student deportation efforts, which face legal challenges, are because of anti-Semitic harassment “on and near” Columbia’s Manhattan campus.

“What more can Columbia do to appease Congress or the government now?” Mr Khalil told Reuters hours before his arrest, noting that Columbia had repeatedly called in police to arrest protesters and had disciplined many pro-Palestinian students and staff, suspending some.

“They basically silenced anyone supporting Palestine on campus, and this was not enough. Clearly, Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda fighting and attacking higher education and the Ivy League education system.”

Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong said the school was committed to combating anti-Semitism and other prejudice and was “working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns”.

Mr Khalil and other protesters have demanded for several years that Columbia end investments of its US$14.8 billion endowment in weapons manufacturers and companies that support Israel’s government and military.

Columbia said it was willing to expedite consideration of the students’ demands through its advisory committee on socially responsible investing.

Friend ‘horrified’ by arrest

Ms Maryam Alwan, a Palestinian American senior at Columbia who has protested alongside Mr Khalil, said Mr Trump was dehumanising Palestinians.

“I am horrified for my dear friend Mahmoud, who is a legal resident, and I am horrified that this is only the beginning,” she said.

Columbia issued a revised protocol last week for how students and school staff should deal with federal immigration agents seeking to enter private school property, saying they could enter without a judicial arrest warrant in “exigent circumstances”, which it did not specify.

The Student Workers of Columbia said in its statement: “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.” REUTERS