Unleash Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil takes over new public platforms in his efforts to expel him
U.S. President Donald Trump’s battle with elite universities was only a few days old when federal immigration agents arrested Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil in his apartment building in New York in March.
For more than three months, he was held in an immigration prison in rural Louisiana, and the Trump administration escalated its battle. It arrested other foreign pro-Palestinian students and revoked billions of dollars in research grants, Harvard University and other private schools whose campuses were under attack by the protest movement of pro-Palestine students, Khalil was a prominent figure in Khalil.
“I absolutely have no regrets fighting genocide,” Khalil, 30, said in an interview at his Manhattan apartment. Less than two weeks after U.S. District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered him to bail, he challenged his efforts to revoke his legal U.S. permanent residence green card and evict him.
“I don’t regret standing up for the right thing against the war, which calls for an end to violence.”
He believes the government tried to silence him, but gave him a bigger platform. After returning to New York after his release, Khalil was welcomed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a political enemy of Trump. Supporters waving the Palestinian flag when reunited with their wife and baby son, and he was born in prison.
Two days later, he was the star of a rally on the steps of a cathedral near the Manhattan campus in Columbia, condemning the university’s leaders. He appeared last week before cheering with Palestinian State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who won the June Democratic primary ahead of the 2025 mayoral election in New York City.
“I didn't choose to be in this position: Ice did,” said Harrier. “Of course, it had a big impact on my life. I'm still honestly trying to think about my new reality.”
He missed the graduation ceremony in May and lost his job from prison. He said international charities have withdrawn their work as policy advisers. The government can win the appeal and imprison him again, so Khalil said his priorities are spending as much time as possible with his son and wife (dentist).
Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. His wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, is a U.S. citizen, who became a legal permanent resident last year. He moved to New York as a graduate student in 2022 and became one of the leading student negotiators between the Colombian government and protesters, who set up tent camps on campus lawns as they asked Colombia to support Israeli weapons manufacturers and other investments in support of Israel’s military.
Khalil is not guilty of any crime, but the U.S. government invoked an obscure immigration statute that Khalil and several other internationally pro-Palestinian students must be deported because their “otherwise” remarks could undermine U.S. foreign policy interests. The federal judge in charge of the case ruled that the Trump administration's main reason for expelling Khalil could be unconstitutional violations of free voice rights. The government is attracting people.
When Harvard unearthed threats to U.S. President Donald Trump, his administration doubled its laundry list, including changes to those who get private student records and even those who can go to school. Andrew Chang broke Trump's targeted attack on America's oldest universities and what the battle means for the partnership between administration and higher education.
“It has nothing to do with ‘free speech’,” White House spokesman Abigail Jackson wrote in response to the question. “It’s about individuals who don’t have the right to live with Hamas terrorists in the United States and organize group protests to make college campuses unsafe and harassed Jewish students.”
Urge universities to take care of students
Khalil condemned anti-Semitism and called Jewish students a “component” of the protest movement. He said the administration used anti-Semitism as an excuse to reshape American higher education, which Republicans say was captured by anti-American, Marxist and “radical left” ideology.
The Trump administration has told Columbia and other universities that the federal grant is primarily for biomedical research unless the government calls for greater “intellectual diversity” of people they recognize and employ and the knowledge they teach.
Unlike Harvard, Colombia has not questioned the legitimacy of the government's sudden grants and agreed that at least some of the Trump administration's demands for strengthening the rules of protest, a prerequisite for negotiations on resuming funds.
Khalil called Colombia's reaction heartbreaking. “Columbia essentially handed the institution to the Trump administration, asking the administration to introduce every detail about how to run a higher education institution,” he said.
The Colombian government said that as negotiations continue, maintaining academic autonomy at universities is a “red line.”
Columbia spokesman Lam Abrams said university leaders “strongly questioned” Khalil’s characteristics.
“Columbia University recognizes that students, including Mr. Khalil, have the right to speak on issues they believe in,” she said in a statement. “However, it is also crucial for the university to maintain its rules and policies to ensure that every member of our community can participate in the campus community without discrimination and harassment.”
Harrier urged Columbia and other universities Trump targeted to take care of their students.
“The students have developed a clear plan about how the campus follows human rights and can comply with international law and that all students can be inclusive, regardless of their position on the issue,” he said. “They prefer to succumb to political pressure rather than listen to students.”
