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President Donald Trump has said that the arrest of Columbia University graduate is “the first of the incoming people” to participate in the Palestinian protests, which raised clamps on free speech and campus -based activity.
Syrian -born American green card holder Mahmoud Khalil, who was involved in protests at the University’s New York campus last year, was detained by US immigration and Customs Enforcement late on Saturday. According to the agency’s database, it has been placed in a Louisiana processing center.
In a post on his truthful social platform on Monday, Trump said that the ICE “arrested Khalil proudly and detained”, which he called “a basic foreign supporter”.
The President added, “We know that there are more students in Colombia and other universities across the country who are engaged in supporters, anti -US activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it.”
Khalil was arrested in a Colombian apartment in Manhattan on Saturday, Amy Greer told the Associate Press. He added that ice agents have also threatened to arrest Khalil’s American wife, who is pregnant for eight months.
“We have not been able to find any more details about why they are being detained,” Greer said. “This is a clear addition. The administration is pursuing its dangers.
There has been no allegation against Khalil, who has a permanent legal right to US residence as a green card holder. On Monday, a judge temporarily stopped his deportation and scheduled a hearing in New York on Wednesday.
The Homeland Security Department wrote in a post on the social media platform X that Khalil, which was identified by the department as a “former graduate student of Columbia University”, was taken into custody.
The department alleged that “Khalil -led activities are associated with a designated terrorist organization Hamas.
In January, Trump signed a Executive Order Hamas has been accused of “discrimination against Jewish students” after Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and called for “all available and appropriate legal tools, harass illegal staggers and use all available legal tools to accuse the perpetrators of torture.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X after the arrest of Khalil: “We will cancel Hamas supporters’ visas and/or green cards in the United States to be deported.”
Ben Wesner, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union speech, privacy, and technology project, called Khalil’s arrest “unprecedented, illegal and non -American”.
He added: “The federal government is claiming the authority to deport people with deep ties with the United States and revoke its green cards to advocate the positions that oppose the government.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York on Monday to express their anger over Khalil’s detention, saying the Trump administration had efforts to stop Palestinian activities in the United States.
The administration this month canceled Colombia about $ 400MN in federal grants and contracts, alleging that it was “horrific” for alleged harassment of Jewish students.
The Department of Education on Monday sent a letter to 60 higher education institutions in which “if they do not fulfill their responsibilities under the Title of the Civil Rights Act for the protection of Jewish students on the campus,” warning of possible implementation measures “.
In response to a request for comment, Columbia shared a statement from the Interim President Katrina Armstrong, saying that “law enforcement agencies must have a judicial warrant in order to enter non -public university areas, including residential university buildings.”
He added, “We are deeply committed to freedom of expression as a fundamental value that we should maintain as a community.”
The university did not answer any further questions.
