Khalil, who has a US green card, is married to an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, the statement added.
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His arrest is seen as one of the first actions by US President Donald Trump to carry out his promise to deport foreign students taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Trump has labelled such protests as “antisemitic.”
A voice for protesters
Khalil, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and worked for the British embassy in Beirut, was a key negotiator between Columbia University administrators and student protesters.
Some demonstrators had set up encampments on campus and briefly occupied an academic building last year. However, Khalil was not involved in the occupation but acted as a mediator.
Hours before his arrest, he spoke to Reuters, expressing fears that he was being targeted for talking to the media.
“They basically silenced anyone supporting Palestine on campus, and this was not enough,” he said. “Clearly Trump is using the protesters as a scapegoat for his wider agenda attacking higher education and Ivy League universities.”
Khalil is being held at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to the agency’s online records. His lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump administration cuts Columbia funding
A day before Khalil’s arrest, the Trump administration announced the cancellation of government contracts and grants worth about $400 million to Columbia University, citing concerns over antisemitism on campus.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared a news report about Khalil’s arrest on social media, stating: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Columbia University said it was “committed to the legal rights of our students” but declined to comment on individual cases due to privacy laws.
Criticism and concerns
Khalil’s arrest has sparked criticism from rights groups. The New York Civil Liberties Union condemned the move as “unlawful, retaliatory, and an attack on free speech.”
Executive Director Donna Lieberman said, “This is a frightening escalation of Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech and an aggressive abuse of immigration law.”
A fellow protester, Palestinian-American student Maryam Alwan, expressed her shock: “I am horrified for my dear friend Mahmoud, who is a legal resident, and I am horrified that this is only the beginning.”
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Columbia University has revised its policies on dealing with immigration agents, stating that ICE officers without a judicial warrant will only be allowed onto private university property in “exigent circumstances,” though the school did not define what those circumstances would be.
The Student Workers of Columbia union criticised the university for “surrendering to the Trump administration’s assault on universities and sacrificing international students to protect its finances.” Khalil lived in university housing outside Columbia’s main campus gates.
(with inputs from Reuters)
