Freed Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil seizes new public platform amid efforts to deport him

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Jul 04, 2025 6:13 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

U.S. President Donald Trump's combat with elite American universities was lone a fewer days aged erstwhile national migration agents arrested Palestinian pupil activistic Mahmoud Khalil astatine his Columbia University flat gathering successful New York successful March.

Over the much than 3 months helium was held astatine a jailhouse for immigrants successful agrarian Louisiana, the Trump medication escalated its battle. It arrested different overseas pro-Palestinian students and revoked billions of dollars successful probe grants to Columbia, Harvard and different backstage schools whose campuses were roiled by the pro-Palestinian pupil protestation movement, successful which Khalil was a salient figure.

"I perfectly don't regret lasting up against a genocide," Khalil, 30, said successful an interrogation astatine his Manhattan apartment, little than 2 weeks aft U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered him released connected bail portion helium challenges the effort to revoke his lawful U.S. imperishable residency greenish paper and deport him.

"I don't regret lasting up for what's right, which is opposing war, which is calling for the extremity of violence."

He believes the authorities is trying to soundlessness him, but has alternatively fixed him a bigger platform. Returning to New York aft his release, Khalil was welcomed astatine the airdrome by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a governmental foe of Trump; supporters waved Palestinian flags arsenic helium reunited with his woman and babe son, whose commencement helium missed successful jail.

Two days later, helium was the prima of a rally connected the steps of a cathedral adjacent Columbia's Manhattan campus, castigating the university's leaders. Last week, helium appeared earlier cheering crowds alongside Zohran Mamdani, the pro-Palestinian authorities lawmaker who won June's Democratic superior up of New York City's 2025 mayoral election.

"I did not take to beryllium successful this position: ICE did," Khalil said, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who arrested him. "And this, of course, had a large interaction connected my life. I'm still honestly trying to contemplate my caller reality."

He missed his May graduation ceremonial and emerged from jailhouse unemployed. An planetary foundation withdrew its connection of a occupation arsenic a argumentation adviser, helium said. The authorities could triumph its entreaty and jailhouse him again, truthful Khalil said his precedence is spending arsenic overmuch clip arsenic imaginable with his lad and wife, a dentist.

Khalil was calved successful a Palestinian exile campy successful Syria; his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, is simply a U.S. national and helium became a lawful permanent nonmigratory past year. Moving to New York successful 2022 arsenic a postgraduate student, helium became 1 of the main pupil negotiators betwixt Columbia's medication and the protesters, who acceptable up structure encampments connected a field tract arsenic they demanded that Columbia extremity investments of its $14 cardinal endowment successful weapons makers and different companies supporting Israel's military.

Khalil is not charged with immoderate crime, but the U.S. authorities has invoked an obscure migration statute to reason that Khalil and respective different planetary pro-Palestinian students indispensable beryllium deported due to the fact that their "otherwise lawful" code could harm U.S. overseas argumentation interests. The national justice overseeing the lawsuit has ruled that the Trump administration's main rationale for deporting Khalil is apt an unconstitutional usurpation of free-speech rights. The authorities is appealing.

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"This is not astir 'free speech,'" Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, wrote successful effect to queries. "This is astir individuals who don't person a close to beryllium successful the United States siding with Hamas terrorists and organizing radical protests that made assemblage campuses unsafe and harassed Jewish students."

Urges universities to heed their students

Khalil condemned antisemitism and called Jewish students an "integral part" of the protestation movement. He said the authorities was utilizing antisemitism arsenic a pretext to reshape American higher education, which Trump, a Republican, has said is captured by anti-American, Marxist and "radical left" ideologies.

The Trump medication has told Columbia and different universities that national assistance money, mostly for biomedical research, volition not beryllium restored unless the authorities has greater oversight of who they admit and prosecute and what they teach, calling for greater "intellectual diversity."

Unlike Harvard, Columbia has not challenged the legality of the government's abrupt assistance revocations, and agreed to astatine slightest immoderate of the Trump administration's demands to tighten rules astir protests arsenic a precondition of negotiations implicit resuming funding.

Khalil called Columbia's effect heartbreaking. "Columbia fundamentally gave the instauration to the Trump administration, fto the medication intervene successful each azygous item connected however higher acquisition institutions should beryllium run," helium said.

Columbia's medication has said preserving the university's world autonomy is simply a "red line" arsenic negotiations continue.

Columbia spokesperson Virginia Lam Abrams said assemblage leaders "strongly dispute" Khalil's characterization.

"Columbia University recognizes the close for students, including Mr. Khalil, to talk retired connected issues that they profoundly judge in," she said successful a statement. "But it is besides captious for the assemblage to uphold its rules and policies to guarantee that each subordinate of our assemblage tin enactment successful a field assemblage escaped from favoritism and harassment."

Khalil urged Columbia and different universities targeted by Trump to heed their students.

"The students presented a wide program connected however this field tin travel quality rights, tin travel planetary law, tin beryllium inclusive to each students, wherever everyone feels adjacent careless of wherever they basal connected issues," helium said. "They similar to capitulate to governmental unit alternatively than listening to the students."