8 hours agoUS arrests, seeks to expel pro-Palestinian student protest leader
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)A pro-Palestinian activist, who played an important role in the protests at Columbia University against the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, was arrested in New York on Saturday evening, his lawyer said. The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil marks a major development in the administration's promise to arrest and expel international students [...]
The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil marks a major development in the administration's promise to arrest and expel international students involved in what it calls antisemites campus demonstrations against Israel, Euronews reports.
The immigration and Customs Implementation Agents (ICE) arrested Khalil in his university-owned residence in New York on Saturday evening, according to his lawyer Amy Greer, who said that, from Sunday night, she did not know where her client was being banned.
ICE officials threatened to arrest Khalil's wife, who is eight months pregnant, Greer added.
In a phone call he had with one of the agents during his arrest, Graner said he was told the State Department was seeking to annul Khalil's student visa.
After she informed them that Khalil actually lived in the US with the permanent residence of the Green Charter, the official said they would try to revote it instead, Greer added.
We couldn't get more details about why he's stopping. This is a clear escalation. The administration is following its threats”, the lawyer said.
Khalil's arrest was confirmed Sunday by Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the National Security Department, which said it was carried out “in support of the president's executive orders (Donald) Trump banning anti-Semitism”.
McLaughlin claimed that Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian origin, had “guided activities related to Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation”. It has offered no evidence to support the claims.
Responding to his arrest, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio went to X to say Khalil's ban was only the beginning.
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Meanwhile, critics said the Trump administration was acting for personal interests.
This looks like a revenge action against someone who expressed a thought that the Trump administration did not like,” said Camille Mackler, founder of the ARC Imigrant, a coalition of legal service providers in New York.
Khalil, who recently graduated from Columbia University with a master in international affairs, served as negotiator for students in their talks with university officials during protests in Colombia.
One of the demonstrators' demands was for the university to leave Israel-related companies.
As a result of Khalil's apparent role, pro-Israel activists have demanded in recent weeks that the Trump administration take action against him.
Since the beginning of his second presidential mandate, Trump has promised to pursue people involved in what he calls anti-Israel “illegal projectors.
“Agitators will be imprisoned/or return permanently to where they came from. American students will be deported forever or, depending on the crime, ” will be arrested, he said on his social media page, the Social Truth last Tuesday.
On Friday, the US government said it was cutting $400m (368.7m euros) in grants and federal contracts for Columbia University due to its Campus anti-war protests in Gaza.
