A federal judge blocked the removal of Palestinian activists and Columbia University alumni from the United States as hundreds of demonstrators gathered in New York City on Monday to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil.
Judge Jesse M. Furman said that Halil is due to remain in the United States as a court “to maintain jurisdiction of the court,” but he is considering filing challenges to his arrest. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in federal court in New York City.
Halil attended Columbia University and helped organize protests last spring about the war between Israel and Hamas extremists in Gaza. He was arrested by federal immigration agents on Saturday for what authorities said was his support for Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in New York City to demand their release after President Donald Trump said President Halil was “the first arrest of many people going forward.”
His lawyer said in a statement that Khalil was taken from his university-owned apartment on Saturday night, after he was told his student visa had been revoked. Attorney Amy Greer added that Ice was informed that Halil is a permanent resident with a green card but “he had detained him anyway.”
A Homeland Security spokesperson said Halil was arrested in partnership with ICE and the State Department “in support of President Trump’s executive order banning anti-Semitism.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the X post on Sunday that the administration could “revoke visas and green cards for Hamas supporters in America.
Trump said Halil’s arrest was the first of many people to come.
“We know that Columbia and other universities, other universities engaged in counterterrorism, anti-Semitism, and anti-American activities, that the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” he said in the Truth Society. “Many are paid agitators, not students. We find these terrorist sympathizers from our country, arrest them and deport them.
Trump and his administration did not provide evidence of these allegations against Halil or other protesters.
People’s Forum held a rally at the Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Monday afternoon, demanding that Khalil be released soon
“Get our students! Ice from campus!” Group posted on X.
On Monday afternoon, protesters met the Commons and soon gathered at hundreds, with some holding the signs “Releasing Mahmoud Khalil” seen by the American Civil Liberties Union protest monitor.
Officers from the New York Police Department lined up quickly at the Plaza to establish the boundaries of the event, but no arrests were seen as the first hour passed.
Among the protesters were students from New York University’s regional city campus who gathered in front of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Protesters joined in matching “Free and Free Palestine,” “Ice Removed from Campus,” “Releasing Mahmoud Khalil Now,” and “Ice Ice from River to Sea.”
Speaking from the stage, New York ACLU executive director Donna Lieberman demanded that Halil be released immediately, calling his arrest a “significant violation of his constitutional rights.”
Halil was described by a speaker on the stage as a political prisoner who helped negotiate the conclusions of a pro-Palestinian rally, including campus campus campus in Colombia. A similar protest took place on more than 40 campuses nationwide last spring.
The march followed the remarks made by the speaker.
The nonprofit Action Action Network has launched a petition stating that more than 900,000 letters have been sent to seek the release of Khalil.
Greer filed a petition that her office challenged the effectiveness of his detention, saying he didn’t know where he was being held. Initially, it was believed that the agent took Khalil to an establishment in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but his wife was told she was not there when she tried to visit. His wife is a US citizen and is 8 months pregnant.
The Department of Homeland Security website says Halil is being detained at an immigration detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.
“We will vehemently pursue Mahmoud’s rights in court and continue this horrific, unforgivable and calculated effort against him,” she said.
Murad Awaude, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Union, said the arrest was “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“The United States should be a country of law, but this action by DHS challenges that concept,” Awawdeh said in a statement. “DHS must release Khalil immediately. Our local elected officials must intervene in detention of this illegal, politically motivated New Yorker.”
The New York ACLU said Halil’s detention was “an extreme attack on his first right to revise.”
“Tearing students out of their homes, challenging immigrant status and detaining them only on a political perspective will surprise students’ speeches and advocacy across campus,” the statement read. “Political speeches should never be a basis for punishment or lead to deportation.”
The Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the decision to arrest him was “lawless.”
Mariam Alwan, a 22-year-old Colombian student involved in the pro-Palestinian movement on campus, told NBC News that she has been feeling intensely uneasy since Khalil’s arrest. “I didn’t sleep all night,” she said Monday. “That’s really not realistic.”
Alwan was born and raised in Virginia, but she said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if American citizens were their next target.”
Alwan was arrested and suspended in April after the university called police officers to clear out the vast tent camp. Then in early January she was informed that she was being investigated by the University’s institution’s Office of Equity. The email was published in the Student Newspaper on October 19, accusing her of being involved in an unsigned OP-ED document seeking a sale from Israel.
Investigators said manipulation of Colombian audiences could have exposed other students to “unwelcome behavior” based on other religions, national origin, or military service, among other claims.
The Columbia agency’s equity office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Columbia said Sunday in a statement that law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public university areas, including campus buildings.
“Columbia is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting student organizations and campus communities,” the university said.
