Hundreds of protestors marched in Manhattan Monday following the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian Columbia University graduate student and activist taken into custody by federal immigration authorities.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, acting on orders from the State Department, took Khalil, 30, into custody Saturday night at his university-owned residence near Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, revoking both his student visa and permanent green card, according to his attorney, Amy Greer.
While Khalil — who has not been charged with a crime — was held by immigration authorities in Jena, La., a crowd of about 1,000 gathered near Union Square.
One protestor labeled the arrest as a form of political oppression — and went as far as alleging Khalil was “kidnapped” from his home while his pregnant wife watched.
“This is a shift by our government towards fascism,” said Jay Saper, 34. “New Yorkers will have to take to the street. This is not about addressing antisemitism, this is about political oppression and anti-Palestinian racism.”
“This is about instituting fear,” Saper added.
Earlier Monday, Manhattan Federal Judge Jesse Furman scheduled a hearing for Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. in response to a petition filed by Khalil’s lawyers challenging the legality of his detention.
The judge halted Khalil’s deportation, stating he “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
As news of Furman’s order trickled through the protest, a cheer rang out. Meanwhile, a press conference was held outside Columbia University, where academics and activists railed at the arrest.
“Let’s be clear, Mahmoud was detained for his political speech,” said professor Nadia Abu El-Hajj, co-director of Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies.
Another Columbia professor, Marianne Hirsch, the daughter of Holocaust survivors who grew up in communist Romania, said the arrest “brought back my most tormenting childhood memories.”
“I’ve spent my career, or a good part of my career, teaching about fascism and the memory of the Holocaust so that what is happening now should never happen to anyone,” said Hirsch, a professor emerita of English literature. “My committed Jewish faculty colleagues and I have warned that the false characterization of Columbia as a hotbed of antisemitism would be used as an alibi for what’s actually happening.”
Khalil is thought to be the first person targeted by the Trump administration as part of its pledge to deport international students involved in protests against the war in Gaza.