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"The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil—a green card holder whose wife is eight months pregnant—is a blatant assault on the First Amendment and a sign of advancing authoritarianism under Trump," said one critic.
Federal agents on Saturday arrested a prominent Palestinian activist and permanent U.S. resident who says the arresting officers told him his green card had been revoked.
Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, who is eight months pregnant, were returning home at around 8:30 pm Saturday when plainclothes Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents "pushed in behind them," advocates for Khalil
toldZeteo's Prem Thakker. Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents also threatened to arrest his wife.
Last week, the U.S. State Department announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered "catch and revoke" program to cancel the visas of international students deemed supportive of Hamas. This, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January authorizing the deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza.
"Clearly Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda fighting and attacking higher education and the Ivy League education system," Khalil toldReuters Saturday before his arrest.
Thakker reported:
The agents claimed that the State Department had revoked Khalil's student visa, with one agent presenting what he claimed was a warrant on his cell phone. But Khalil, according to advocates, has a green card. Khalil's wife went to their apartment to get the green card.
"He has a green card," an agent apparently said on the phone, confused by the matter. But then after a moment, the agent claimed that the State Department had "revoked that too."
Experts said that revoking a green card is very rare and typically only occurs when a permanent resident has committed a serious crime, engages in immigration fraud, or clearly demonstrates intent to abandon their status.
"This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didn't like," Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of New York legal service providers, toldHuffpost.
Khalil graduated in December with a master's degree from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. He was also a lead negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest during the April 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which drew international attention as Israeli forces killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and annihilated much of their homeland. Khalil was briefly suspended last spring for his protest activities.
Elora Mukherjee, director of the immigrants' rights clinic at Columbia Law School, toldThe New York Times that if the Trump administration revoked Khalil's green card "in retaliation for his public speech, that is prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said late Sunday that Khalil was arrested "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism."
"Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization," McLaughlin added. "ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump's executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security."
However, Greer said that "we will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud's rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable—and calculated—wrong committed against him."
Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement that "this blatantly unconstitutional act sends a deplorable message that freedom of speech is no longer protected in America."
The Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, which represents more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate student workers, urged Columbia staff and students to oppose the school's "cooperation with the Trump administration."
“By allowing ICE on campus, Columbia is surrendering to the Trump administration's assault on universities across the country and sacrificing international students to protect its finances," the union said in a statement.
Last week, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, claiming the school—which cracked down hard on Gaza protesters—hasn't done enough to combat antisemitism.
The Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) coalition noted that "Columbia University has published guidance on how best to collaborate with federal enforcement, including advising faculty and staff 'not to interfere' with ICE agents even if those agents are unable to present a warrant."
"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible."
"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible," WAWOG argued.
"A Palestinian student and member of the community has been abducted and detained without the physical demonstration of a warrant or officially filed charges," the coalition continued. "Like many other Arab and Muslim students, Khalil has been the target of various Zionist harassment campaigns, fueled by doxxing websites like Canary Mission."
"This racist targeting serves to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others," WAWOG added.
Last week, the U.S. State Department announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered "catch and revoke" program to cancel the visas of international students deemed supportive of Hamas. This, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January authorizing the deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza.
"Clearly Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda fighting and attacking higher education and the Ivy League education system," Khalil toldReuters Saturday before his arrest.
Thakker reported:
The agents claimed that the State Department had revoked Khalil's student visa, with one agent presenting what he claimed was a warrant on his cell phone. But Khalil, according to advocates, has a green card. Khalil's wife went to their apartment to get the green card.
"He has a green card," an agent apparently said on the phone, confused by the matter. But then after a moment, the agent claimed that the State Department had "revoked that too."
Experts said that revoking a green card is very rare and typically only occurs when a permanent resident has committed a serious crime, engages in immigration fraud, or clearly demonstrates intent to abandon their status.
"This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didn't like," Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of New York legal service providers, toldHuffpost.
Khalil graduated in December with a master's degree from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. He was also a lead negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest during the April 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which drew international attention as Israeli forces killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and annihilated much of their homeland. Khalil was briefly suspended last spring for his protest activities.
Elora Mukherjee, director of the immigrants' rights clinic at Columbia Law School, toldThe New York Times that if the Trump administration revoked Khalil's green card "in retaliation for his public speech, that is prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said late Sunday that Khalil was arrested "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism."
"Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization," McLaughlin added. "ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump's executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security."
However, Greer said that "we will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud's rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable—and calculated—wrong committed against him."
Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement that "this blatantly unconstitutional act sends a deplorable message that freedom of speech is no longer protected in America."
The Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, which represents more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate student workers, urged Columbia staff and students to oppose the school's "cooperation with the Trump administration."
“By allowing ICE on campus, Columbia is surrendering to the Trump administration's assault on universities across the country and sacrificing international students to protect its finances," the union said in a statement.
Last week, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, claiming the school—which cracked down hard on Gaza protesters—hasn't done enough to combat antisemitism.
The Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) coalition noted that "Columbia University has published guidance on how best to collaborate with federal enforcement, including advising faculty and staff 'not to interfere' with ICE agents even if those agents are unable to present a warrant."
"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible."
"Columbia's continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible," WAWOG argued.
"A Palestinian student and member of the community has been abducted and detained without the physical demonstration of a warrant or officially filed charges," the coalition continued. "Like many other Arab and Muslim students, Khalil has been the target of various Zionist harassment campaigns, fueled by doxxing websites like Canary Mission."
"This racist targeting serves to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others," WAWOG added.
"Those pushing for this repression will come to realize the dangerous precedent it will set for freedom of speech," warned one critic.
In what one critic called "a dangerous new front in the Trump administration's multi-pronged assault on First Amendment rights," the U.S. State Department is launching an artificial intelligence-powered "catch and revoke" program to cancel the visas of international students deemed supportive of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The State Department is working with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security in what one senior official called a "whole of government and whole of authority approach" to identify and proscribe foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other groups the U.S. has designated as "terrorist organizations," Axiosfirst reported.
According to Axios' Marc Caputo, the effort includes "AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders' social media accounts," and "marks a dramatic escalation in the U.S. government's policing of foreign nationals' conduct and speech."
The free speech administration, if they like what you say: www.axios.com/2025/03/06/s...
[image or embed]
— Nora Benavidez (@attorneynora.bsky.social) March 6, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Explaining the new policy, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday: "We see people marching at our universities and in the streets of our country... calling for intifada, celebrating what Hamas has done... Those people need to go."
Responding to the news, Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said in a statement that "this should concern all Americans."
"This is a First Amendment and freedom of speech issue and the administration will overplay its hand," Ayoub added. "Americans won't like this. They'll view this as capitulating free speech rights for a foreign nation."
ADC said:
By employing AI to track and flag individuals for potential visa revocation and/or deportation, the administration is effectively criminalizing peaceful political expression and dissent. Not since the aftermath of 9/11 has such wide-scale surveillance been directed at noncitizen communities, and the reliance on AI tools only magnifies the likelihood of errors, misidentifications, and abuses of discretion. This raises profound questions about privacy and constitutional protections—who is controlling this data, how is it being used, and where is the human oversight?
Progressive podcaster Brian Allen said on the social media site X, "Let's be clear: This is state surveillance on steroids."
"The Trump [administration] is using AI to monitor foreign students' social media and punishing them for political speech," he continued. "So much for 'free speech absolutism'—guess that only applies if you're a billionaire or a Republican."
"The message is loud and clear: Dissent will be crushed," Allen added. "The crackdown is here."
AI tools can't be trusted as experts on the First Amendment or the nuances of speech. Using AI to scour visa holders’ social media for “pro-Hamas” posts and report them to an administration threatening to deport international students for protected speech will undoubtedly encourage self-censorship.
[image or embed]
— Sarah McLaughlin (@sarahemclaugh.bsky.social) March 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Journalist Laila Al-Arian warned that "those pushing for this repression will come to realize the dangerous precedent it will set for freedom of speech."
The launch of "catch and revoke" follows a January executive order by President Donald Trump authorizing the deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza, which left the coastal strip flattened and more than 170,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing; and around 2 million more forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to local and international agencies.
"To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice," Trump said at the time. "We will find you, and we will deport you."
Earlier this week, Trump also threatened to cut off federal funding to schools that allow what he dubiously called "illegal protests."
"Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came," the president said on social media. "American students will be permanently expelled or... arrested."
The ACLU responded to Trump's threats by publishing an open letter to colleges and universities nationwide on Tuesday "urging them to reject any federal pressure to surveil or punish international students and faculty based on constitutionally protected speech."
ACLU legal director Cecilia Wang said: "It is disturbing to see the White House threatening freedom of speech and academic freedom on U.S. college campuses so blatantly. We stand in solidarity with university leaders in their commitment to free speech, open debate, and peaceful dissent on campus."
"Trump's latest coercion campaign, attempting to turn university administrators against their own students and faculty, harkens back to the McCarthy era and is at odds with American constitutional values and the basic mission of universities," Wang added, referring to the extreme repression during the Second Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s.
Israel's war on Gaza sparked the largest wave of nationwide protests—a significant number of them led by Jewish groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow—since the Black Lives Matter movement. According to an analysis by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, 97% of the 553 campus protests it studied were nonviolent.
There were, however, numerous reports of pro-Israel counter-protesters and police attacking pro-Palestine demonstrators and encampments, including Jewish religious structures.
While few student protesters have endorsed Hamas—which for years was nurtured by Israel as a counterbalance to the Palestinian National Authority—or the October 7 attack, more have voiced support for Palestinian liberation "by any means necessary," including by armed struggle, a legitimate right under international law.
The United States and around two dozen other nations—all but one of them European or the result of European settler-colonialism—consider Hamas, whose political arm governs Gaza, a terrorist organization. Most of the Arab and wider Muslim world views Hamas, whose military wing led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, as a legitimate movement for national liberation.
Meanwhile, scores of Global South countries, either directly or via regional blocs, and Ireland are backing a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The Trump administration has hit South Africa, as well as the International Criminal Court—which last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity—with punitive sanctions.
Israel is being investigated for alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a fugitive from the International Criminal Court.
In a Tuesday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the Trump administration's staunch support for Israel—which includes $4 billion in fresh fast-tracked military assistance—even as the key Mideast ally cuts off lifesaving humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the flattened Gaza Strip.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce summarized Rubio's call with the right-wing Israeli leader, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza:
Rubio spoke with... Netanyahu to underscore that the United States' steadfast support for Israel is a top priority for President [Donald] Trump, as shown by the recent announcement to expedite the delivery of nearly $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. The secretary thanked the prime minister for his cooperation with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to help free all remaining hostages and extend the cease-fire in Gaza. The secretary also conveyed that he anticipates close coordination in addressing the threats posed by Iran and pursuing opportunities for a stable region.
Rubio's call with Netanyahu, which followed the Republican secretary of state's visit to Israel last month, came just two days after Netanyahu's government halted all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. People there are reeling after 15 months of Israeli bombardment, invasion, and siege that have obliterated the coastal enclave, killing at least 48,405 Palestinians, wounding more than 111,000 others, and forcibly displacing, starving, or sickening nearly all of the strip's approximately 2.3 million people, according to local and international agencies.
Netanyahu said the aid suspension was carried out "in full coordination with President Trump and his people."
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that "the gates of hell will be opened" on Gaza if Hamas, which rules the strip, does not free the dozens of Israeli and international hostages it kidnapped on October 7, 2023. Hamas has delayed their release due to what it claims are hundreds of Israeli violations of a January cease-fire agreement, including deadly attacks on civilians and the aid cutoff.
Katz, Netanyahu, and other Israeli leaders are among those named in an incitement to genocide complaint filed in January at the ICC by Israeli attorney Omer Shatz. Israel is also under investigation for alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Bruce's description of the Rubio-Netanyahu call does not mention the Palestinians or Gaza.
Last month, Trump
proposed a U.S. invasion and takeover of Gaza, which would be ethnically cleansed of Palestinians and transformed into what the president described as "the Riviera of the Middle East."