Politics
Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia Is Moved to Detention in Louisiana
Mahmoud Khalil is a permanent resident of the United States. His arrest sets up a fight over free speech and immigrant rights.
The activist Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian student movement at Columbia University, has been transferred to Louisiana after federal immigration officials arrested him over the weekend, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
Mr. Khalil is being held at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, La. His lawyer, Amy Greer, said after his arrest that he was a green card holder and that the detention would be challenged.
Federal immigration officials did not immediately reply to questions about Mr. Khalil’s transfer, including why he was taken more than 1,000 miles from his home in New York City, where he was arrested.
President Trump hailed the arrest of Mr. Khalil in a Truth Social posting on Monday and pledged that more student arrests are forthcoming.
“ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas student on the campus of Columbia University,” the president wrote. “This is the first arrest of many to come.”
Mr. Khalil’s arrest drew outrage from students and faculty at the university. Joseph Howley, a classics professor at Columbia, described him as brave, yet mild-mannered and gentle — a “consummate diplomat” who worked to find middle ground between protesters and school administrators.
