ICE arrests Columbia graduate student and activist, lawyer says

Mahmoud Khalil's attorney says he was detained by immigration officers who claimed his student visa was revoked, despite him not being on one. His whereabouts remain unknown.

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A Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers Saturday night, his lawyer confirmed.

Mahmoud Khalil was taken into custody at a university-owned residence building near Columbia’s campus, the Associated Press reported. His attorney, Amy E. Greer, an associate at the firm Dratel & Lewis, said the ICE agents who arrested him claimed his student visa had been revoked — even though he is a legal permanent resident and not in the U.S. on a student visa.

“Confronted with that fact, the ICE agents detained him anyway,” Greer said in a statement.

Columbia University did not directly confirm Khalil’s arrest but issued a statement acknowledging “reports of ICE around campus.” The university said law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public university buildings but did not say whether ICE had one in this case.

Khalil’s attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition overnight challenging the legality of his detention, Greer said. His whereabouts were unknown, she said, adding that reports indicated he may be transferred as far away as Louisiana.

“Initially we were informed this morning that he had been transferred to an ICE facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey,” Greer said. “However, when his wife – a U.S. citizen who is eight months’ pregnant and was threatened with arrest as well by the ICE agents last night – tried to visit him there today, she was told he is not detained there.”

Columbia has been a focal point of student-led, pro-Palestinian protests against the ongoing war in Gaza, which followed the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants in Israel. The protests sparked similar demonstrations nationwide and ultimately led to disruptions in the academic year, including changes to Columbia’s graduation plans.

Greer said Khalil had been targeted for his involvement in those protests.

“We will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud’s rights in court and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable—and calculated—wrong committed against him,” she said. “ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud follows the U.S. government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza.”

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, also condemned the arrest, calling it a retaliatory move against Khalil for his activism and a violation of his First Amendment rights.

“The unlawful detention of Mr. Khalil reeks of McCarthyism,” Lieberman said.

Khalil’s arrest comes just days after the Trump administration revoked $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University, citing “relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment” on campus. Federal officials said the university had failed to comply with anti-discrimination laws and warned that additional funding cuts could follow. Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, said the university was reviewing the decision and remained committed to addressing concerns over antisemitism on campus.

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