Federal immigration authorities on Saturday arrested a former Columbia College pupil, who was on the forefront of the pro-Palestinian protests on campus final yr, citing a State Division order to revoke his inexperienced card, based on his lawyer.

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee raised in Syria, who graduated from Columbia final December, was taken into custody from his university-owned condo close to the Ivy League campus in New York.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers entered the constructing and arrested him, his lawyer, Amy Greer, informed AP. Mr Khalil’s spouse, who’s eight months pregnant, was not knowledgeable of the rationale for his detention, Ms Greer mentioned.

Mr Khalil performed a key function in final spring’s pro-Palestinian pupil encampment protests at Columbia, a part of nationwide demonstrations towards Israel’s struggle on Gaza. He was chosen as a pupil negotiator in talks with college directors.

Mr Khalil had additionally been underneath investigation by Columbia’s newly shaped Workplace of Institutional Fairness, which was tasked with reviewing college students who criticised Israel. The committee reportedly despatched disciplinary notices to college students for actions resembling social media posts and participation in unauthorised protests.

“We now have not been capable of get any extra particulars about why he’s being detained,” Ms Greer informed AP. “This can be a clear escalation. The administration is following by way of on its threats.”

Ms Greer mentioned she spoke to an ICE agent throughout the arrest, who initially claimed they had been executing an order to revoke MR Khalil’s pupil visa. When knowledgeable that Mr Khalil was a everlasting resident with a inexperienced card, the agent mentioned that too was being revoked. He has since been transferred to an immigration detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Beneath US legislation, solely an immigration courtroom can revoke a inexperienced card, not authorities businesses. Nonetheless, Secretary of State Marco Rubio intends to revoke visas of foreign nationals deemed to assist Hamas or different terrorist teams, utilizing synthetic intelligence (AI) to determine people.

Columbia College has been a selected focus of federal scrutiny. On Friday, the administration introduced it could minimize $400 million in grants and contracts to the college, accusing it of failing to deal with antisemitism on campus.

The arrest comes amid the Trump administration’s intensified crackdown on pupil activists essential of Israel. President Donald Trump has vowed to deport overseas college students and imprison protesters concerned in demonstrations towards Israel’s struggle in Gaza. 

“They only wish to present Congress and right-wing politicians that they are doing one thing, whatever the stakes for college students,” Mr Khalil said final week. “It is primarily an workplace to relax pro-Palestine speech.”

Columbia’s encampment protests, which started final spring, impressed related demonstrations at faculties throughout the US. Many universities referred to as in native police to interrupt up the protests, resulting in a whole bunch of pupil arrests.