The lawmakers said Khalil’s arrest “is an act of anti-Palestinian racism intended to silence the Palestine solidarity movement in this country, but this lawless abuse of power and political repression is a threat to all Americans.”
Fourteen members of the US Congress demanded on Tuesday the immediate release of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil, calling his arrest “a direct assault” on the freedom of speech.
“We are horrified by the recent illegal abduction and now indefinite detention of Mahmoud Khalil – a U.S. legal permanent resident – by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents, and we unequivocally demand his immediate release from DHS custody,” the lawmakers in the House of Representatives wrote in a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
I’m joining 13 of my colleagues to demand that the Trump Administration immediately releases Mahmoud Khalil. Their illegal actions set a dangerous precedent. We cannot allow them to shred our constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Free Mahmoud Khalil. pic.twitter.com/G9YxBeDZvh
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) March 11, 2025
On Saturday evening, two plainclothes DHS agents entered the university’s student housing in New York City and detained Khalil “without the physical demonstration of a warrant or any officially filed charges,” the lawmakers, including Congresswoman Rashid Tlaib, stated.
Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate, is a legal permanent resident and married to a US citizen who is eight months pregnant. He served as a lead negotiator during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last April.
Denied Access to Legal Counsel
The letter pointed out that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who arrested him first claimed that the State Department had revoked his student visa. After Khalil’s attorney informed the agents during the arrest that he was a permanent resident, the agents said his green card was being revoked. The agents also threatened to arrest his wife.
Khalil was not allowed to see his legal counsel or his wife and until the morning of March 10, “his whereabouts were unknown.”
Federal Judge Blocks Deportation of Columbia Student Activist from US
He was “effectively disappeared by DHS,” the letter pointed out, adding that he was transferred over 13 miles away from his home to an ICE facility in central Louisiana “following the filing of a habeas corpus petition on his behalf in New York City shortly after his arrest.”
“Based on these facts, Khalil’s constitutional rights have been violated,” the lawmakers stressed, adding that he has been “denied meaningful access” to counsel and any visitation from his family.
“This is absolutely unacceptable—and illegal. Their access to him must be immediately restored,” the letter emphasized.
Trump’s Executive Orders
DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement on Sunday that Khalil was arrested by ICE in coordination with the Department of State, and “in support of President (Donald) Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.”
“Khalil led activities aligned to (the Palestinian group) Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” the statement claimed.
Mahmoud’s wife recounts ICE following them into their building as they returned from an Iftar dinner.
She refused to leave Mahmoud. Officers threatened to arrest her too.
The officers barricaded Mahmoud from her. They didn’t show a warrant. They hung up the phone on their lawyer. https://t.co/TrkTDccRtC— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) March 12, 2025
Describing Khalil as a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student,” President Donald Trump defended his detention, calling it “the first arrest of many to come.”
“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,” he stated.
‘Not Charged or Convicted’
The lawmakers emphasized that Khalil “has not been charged or convicted of any crime.”
ACTION ALERT: Sign and share the petition!! Mahmoud is a Palestinian student at Columbia University illegally detained by ICE under order from the White House. His wife is 8 months pregnant and Mahmoud’s location is unknown. #FreeMahmoudKhalil https://t.co/p3uAAVf2As
— Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) (@Columbia_psc) March 10, 2025
“As the Trump administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader and negotiator” for the student movement protesting “the Israeli government’s brutal assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza and his university’s complicity in this oppression,” they said.
‘Political Prisoner’
Calling Khalil a “political prisoner,” the lawmakers said, “We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country.”
They said Khalil’s arrest “is an act of anti-Palestinian racism intended to silence the Palestine solidarity movement in this country, but this lawless abuse of power and political repression is a threat to all Americans.”
New York city rises up for Mahmoud Khalil, leader of the pro-Palestine student rallies on Columbia university campus wrongly abducted by ICE pic.twitter.com/XIkuRqOVux
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) March 11, 2025
The members of Congress stressed that universities throughout the country “must protect their students from this vile assault on free thought and expression, and DHS must immediately refrain from any further illegal arrests targeting constitutionally protected speech and activity.”
Other lawmakers who endorsed the letter included Ilhan Omar, Delia C. Ramires, Mark Pocan and James P. McGovern.
On Monday, a federal court in Manhattan blocked the deportation of Khalil.
“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,” US District Judge Jesse M. Furman said in his order.
A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning at a federal court while thousands have taken to the streets of New York City to demand his immediate release.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Tlaib should pay his legal fees and also compensate all the American Palestinian families now getting ripped apart for the consequences of what she promoted. Apparently, the damage cant be repaired even if Palestine becomes free. Only good thing is that the pro Israeli guy who referred him for deportation is now scared to death of how trump admin easily went for it.
Dump Trump!
Rashida Tlaib should be POTUS.