Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, whose arrest by federal immigration agents for his involvement in organizing pro-Palestinian protests touched off a firestorm of criticism, is being detained in Louisiana, according to public records.
Khalil, 30, a green card holder who is legally in the U.S. as a permanent resident, is believed to be the first person targeted by the Trump administration in its pledge to deport international students who protested against Israel’s actions in Gaza. He played a prominent role in organizing student protests last year opposing Israel’s war on Gaza, serving as a negotiator between students and university officials in bargaining talks.
Agents from the Department of Homeland Security barged into Khalil’s university-owned residence Saturday near the Morningside Heights campus and claimed the State Department had revoked his student visa.
Told by his lawyer, Amy Greer, over the phone that he was a green card holder, the agents said that would instead be revoked. His wife is a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.
Federal authorities refused to say where Khalil was being held, but The Immigration and Customs Enforcement online database on Monday logged that he was being detained more than 1,000 miles from the city at a processing center in Jena, La.
Greer could not immediately be reached for comment.
The administration has framed any opposition to Israel’s military activities in Gaza as support for Hamas, which the U.S. and many countries designate as a terrorist group. Israel launched is campaign following the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement on X Sunday, addressed Khalil’s arrest, writing, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
The arrest followed an announcement by the Trump administration Friday of more than $400 million in cuts to federal grants and contracts to Columbia for what it described as the college’s failure to address antisemitism.
Khalil’s detention has provoked widespread outcry by civil rights groups and legal scholars, with demonstrations expected Monday afternoon. It’s illegal for federal immigration authorities to seize someone’s green card without due process, with the process typically playing out in court before an immigration judge.
“The Trump administration’s detention of Mahmoud Khalil — a green card holder studying in this country legally — is targeted, retaliatory, and an extreme attack on his First Amendment rights,” the New York Civil Liberties Union said in a statement Sunday.
“The unlawful detention of Mr. Khalil reeks of McCarthyism. It’s clear that the Trump administration is selectively punishing Mr. Khalil for expressing views that aren’t MAGA-approved — which is a frightening escalation of Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, and an aggressive abuse of immigration law.”
Columbia has declined to confirm whether the agents produced a warrant before entering the campus property and arresting Khalil, as is required by law.
A committee at the Ivy League university has investigated him and other students who criticized the Israeli regime, leading to dozens of students facing disciplinary charges, according to reporting in The Associated Press. The committee scrutinized his work for the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group.
Columbia on Monday announced new restrictions for alums at the college campus Monday, limiting students’ access to the north College Walk pedestrian gates at Broadway near 116th St. and Amsterdam Ave near 116th St., and the Wien Gate on 116th St. between Amsterdam Ave. and Morningside Drive.
Students can also enter the campus on 120th St. near Broadway, but not alumni or guests, according to a statement posted on Columbia’s website, which added that students should anticipate “longer than normal waits” and the presence of public safety guards.