A federal judge has blocked, for now, the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a former student at Columbia University who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, ostensibly for his involvement and leadership during student-led demonstrations against Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians.
Khalil’s detention and planned deportation came days after President Donald Trump threatened universities and students across the country, ambiguously indicating that his administration would target those who engaged in so-called “illegal protests.” Trump also indicated, after Khalil was detained, that the policy would continue and expand in the future.
Stating that ICE “proudly apprehended” Khalil after his statements and executive orders, Trump wrongly described him on Truth Social as a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student.”
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump added. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”
Under U.S. law, Khalil, a graduate of the university and a current green card holder, can have his status revoked and can be deported if he engaged in criminal behavior or supported organizations that the government has defined as having ties to terrorism. However, there appears to be no evidence whatsoever that Khalil engaged in the kind of actions Trump is describing.
“The government would need to prove that he’s done something more than just speaking out, like offering material support to Hamas,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired immigration law professor at Cornell Law School, speaking to Time about Khalil’s detention. “That would be a ground of deportability. They can’t deport only for free speech advocacy.”
After lawyers for Khalil filed a habeas corpus petition, Judge Jesse Furman, a U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of New York, ordered the Trump administration to halt its plans to deport the former Columbia student.
“To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” Furman said.
A hearing has been set for Wednesday to examine the situation further.
One of Khalil’s lawyers, Baher Azmy, blasted the Trump administration for detaining him on Saturday night, violating his civil rights and speech freedoms.
“Setting aside the false and preposterous premise that advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights and to plead with public officials to stop an ongoing genocide constitutes alignment with Hamas, his speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they’re engaged in,” Azmy said.
The decision by Furman to block any further action against Khalil came after thousands of protesters engaged in a march and demonstration in New York against ICE detaining him.
“We refuse to remain silent while these attacks against our rights are escalating…and together, we will be united as we fight the Trump administration’s despicable agenda against our people,” an organizer with the New York City chapter of Palestinian Youth Movement said in a statement posted to Instagram.
Others spoke out against Khalil’s detention and the Trump administration’s broad and seemingly expanding effort to quell free speech.
“It’s vital for us to take the Trump regime’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil seriously,” said author and former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. “He had a valid green card. Was charged with no crime. Was accused of being ‘aligned’ with Hamas, whatever that means. Trump is a fascist. His henchmen will crush free speech in this country if we let them.”
“Trump’s brutal executive orders and now kidnapping of a student endanger all people, beginning with those most vulnerable and those speaking out for justice,” read a statement from Jewish Voice for Peace. “This is how fascism works and the only defense is to refuse to be divided or silenced. History has shown us that we cannot stand idly by — and we will not.”
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