On Saturday night, Department of Homeland Security agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University. Khalil is recognized as one of the lead negotiators for pro-Palestine protesters at the Gaza solidarity encampment in spring 2024. A U.S. green card holder, he was taken into custody in New York while returning from an iftar dinner with his wife, who is eight months pregnant. He was subsequently flown to a detention facility in Louisiana without notification to his attorney or family.
Following the public disclosure of Khalil's detention, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued a statement condemning the arrest: “This arrest is unprecedented, illegal, and un-American. The federal government is claiming the authority to deport people with deep ties to the U.S. and revoke their green cards for advocating positions that the government opposes. To be clear: The First Amendment protects everyone in the U.S. The government’s actions are obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate. The government must immediately return Mr. Khalil to New York, release him back to his family, and reverse course on this discriminatory policy.”
