Massive Protests, Debates Erupt In US Over Pro-Hamas Campus Campaigner Mahmoud Khalil's Arrest

Last Updated:March 13, 2025, 08:23 IST

Mahmoud Khalil's arrest has sparked a massive controversy and an online debate, with critics calling it an attack on free speech and authoritarian overreach, while supporters argue it is justified.

Mahmoud Khalil addresses the media (Photo: Reuters)

The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil – a Palestinian activist who helped lead student protests at Columbia University, has sparked a controversy and has triggered outrage from critics of the Donald Trump administration, as well as free speech advocates, including some on the political right, who say such a move has a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

However, some are also supporting his arrest and say he must be deported, alleging that Khalil fomented unrest in the United States.

Khalil was detained on the night of March 8, as he and his wife, Noor Abdalla, were returning to their Columbia University-owned apartment in upper Manhattan.

They both were detained by officials from the US Department of Homeland Security, who told the couple that Khalil was being detained because his student visa had been revoked. He was then taken to Louisiana, sparking protests.

The Department of Homeland Security, confirming Khalil’s arrest on March 9, claimed he had “led activities aligned to Hamas" and that the action was taken “in coordination with the Department of State."

In the latest, Khalil has been denied legal advice after US President Trump vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.

Khalil remains in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana, with a judge having temporarily blocked efforts to deport him, pending further legal proceedings.

MAHMOUD KHALIL’s ARREST DEBATED ONLINE

US Senator Bernie Sanders, in a post on X, addressed to Donald Trump and opined that Khalil’s arrest was rather “illegal" and showed “authoritarianism". He also said that people cannot be put behind bars because of their political views.

Echoing Sanders, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said this case should matter to everyone.

“There is a young man in jail today for protesting at his college. No charges. No criminal conduct. In dictatorships, they call this “a disappearance". I want to tell you why this case should matter to you, even if you strongly disagree with what he said or did," he wrote in an X post.

A journalist, named Ryan Grim, wrote, “The lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil, at today’s hearing, said that she has been unable to speak to her client once since his detention. Does any of this sound like the America you were taught about growing up? A legal permanent resident kept incommunicado with no charges specifically for his speech" (sic).

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, wrote, “The Trump Administration’s treatment of Mahmoud Khalil is inhumane and unconstitutional.

Another social media user wrote, “Khalil isn’t a terrorist, He’s a Columbia graduate student and a legal US resident. He’s a husband. And his wife, a US Citizen—8 months pregnant—has no idea where he is. This is how authoritarian regimes operate."

Meanwhile, the others supported the deportation of Khalil and said his actions were supportive of terrorism.

As Khalil was arrested, US State Secretary Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s action by saying that this was about people who do not have a right to be in the United States, and no one has a right to a student visa and a green card.

The Department of Homeland Security, in announcing Khalil’s arrest, said it had acted “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State."

An independent freelance shared some images and photos of Khalil and wrote, “There’s footage of Mahmoud Khalil engaging in criminal activity just last week, when he helped take over a Barnard College academic building that was then littered with terrorist propaganda."

Another journalist wrote, “Mahmoud Khalil’s group wants to eradicate Western Civilization & foment unrest in the United States. President Trump and Secretary Rubio are well within their legal rights to deport this radical. We are either going to stand up or become Europe," (sic).

MASSIVE PROTESTS IN NEW YORK CITY

As the controversy snowballed and a court heard Khalil’s case, hundreds protested in support of Khalil, flying Palestinian flags and holding up banners, while actor Susan Sarandon was at the court to back the detained man.

Scores of students across the United States, primarily in New York City, hit the streets, demanding the release of Khalil.

Jewish students at Columbia University also protested Khalil’s arrest.

Other than students, others in New York also demanded Khalil’s release.

KHALIL’s WIFE SPEAKS UP

Two days before US agents arrested Khalil, he had asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door.

“I didn’t take him seriously. Clearly I was naive," Abdalla, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview.

She said her husband’s focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways.

She has had a few brief phone calls with Khalil from jail, where he told her he had been helping other detained migrants with poor English fill out forms written in legalese and donating food to his jail-mates, bought from his commissary account.

“Mahmoud is Palestinian and he’s always been interested in Palestinian politics," she said.

“He’s standing up for his people, he’s fighting for his people," she added.

THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING KHALIL’s ARREST

Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the US on a student visa in 2022, getting his US permanent residency green card last year.

He completed his studies at Columbia’s School of and Public Affairs in December but is yet to receive his master’s degree diploma.

He became a high-profile member of the Ivy League university’s student protest movement, often speaking to the media as one of the lead negotiators with the Columbia administration over the protesters’ years-long demands that the school end investments of its $14.8 billion endowment in weapons makers and other companies that support Israel’s government.

The government has not accused Khalil of breaking any laws, suggesting instead that his permanent residency was being revoked over his involvement in the protests, news agency AFP stated.

During the latest hearing in his case, there was no immediate decision on deportation, or on the legal question of where the case should be heard, with the government arguing it should be either New Jersey, where Khalil was processed, or Louisiana.

Judge Furman set a deadline of Friday for the government to submit arguments to the court with a decision due on Monday.

Campuses across the United States were rocked last year by student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, with some resulting in violent clashes involving police and pro-Israel counter-protesters.

Trump and other Republicans have broadly accused the protesters of supporting Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group whose deadly attack on October 7, 2023, against Israel sparked the war.

News world Massive Protests, Debates Erupt In US Over Pro-Hamas Campus Campaigner Mahmoud Khalil's Arrest