ICE arrests Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil over pro-Palestinian campus activism
Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Columbia University graduate and lawful permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil at his university-owned apartment in New York on March 8, 2025, citing his prominent role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. He was transferred to an ICE facility in Louisiana and the government invoked a rarely used foreign-policy removal provision.
On March 8, 2025, Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University master's graduate and lawful permanent resident, at his university-owned apartment in Manhattan. The Trump administration cited his prominent role as a negotiator for Columbia's 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment protests and invoked 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(C), which permits removal of noncitizens whose presence the Secretary of State determines would have 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.' Khalil was transferred to an ICE detention center in Jena, Louisiana. A federal judge in New Jersey issued orders barring his removal while litigation proceeded. The case became a focal point for First Amendment and immigration scholars over the use of immigration enforcement in response to protected campus speech.