Demand the Release of Mahmoud Khalil!
Protestors demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention.
Federal immigration agents arrested Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil on March 8th. Khalil is an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Columbia University, where he played a major role in organizing student encampments and protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza last year. He was inside his university-owned apartment when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered and took him into custody. Officers claimed they were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke Khalil’s student visa. When they were told he had a Green Card and was not on a student visa, they said they were revoking that instead.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed Khalil’s arrest, describing it as being “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.” This is nothing but a weaponization of antisemitism to facilitate genocide and crack down on those opposing it. Khalil is currently detained at an ICE detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.
Khalil’s arrest and potential deportation sets a very dangerous precedent for pro-Palestine activists nationwide, as well as any other political dissenters moving forward. This is a blatant infringement on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment—rights which are consistently protected for neo-nazis and other far-right hate groups, and consistently ignored for those who oppose capitalism, imperialism and white supremacy. The Democratic Party along with the Biden/Harris Administration paved the way for persecution against pro-Palestine students and activists—persecution that UC administration is also guilty of—and have been silent on Khalil’s disappearance. So much for defending “democracy” from Trump. Despite their rhetoric, their actions prove their unwillingness to resist Trump in any meaningful way.
This kind of persecution is only ramping up, and must be met with solidarity so we can protect each other from these kinds of attacks on activists and non-citizens. Make no mistake. This is an attempt to intimidate the movement. Rather than succumb to such intimidation, we need to intensify our efforts and increase our levels of coordination. Unity is crucial, now more than ever.