ICE agencies have just arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Arab advocate, who completed his student studies at Columbia University in December. On Saturday nights when ICE officials arrested him, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest head was inside his university-owned house, a few blocks away from the school. Khalil was arrested for leading destructive demonstrations on the school last month.
” We will be revoking the visa and/or natural accounts of Hamas supporters in America so they can get deported”, Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented sharing an essay about Khalil’s imprisonment triggering questions about whether people with clean cards and visa will also be deported by the Donald Trump administration.
Attorney Amy Greer said Khalil was told that he was being arrested after his pupil card had been revoked but she pointed out that Khalil is a permanent citizen of the US. Greer told the imprisoning officials about Khalil’s constitutional position but Khalil was detained anyway.
What did the universities say?
Columbia put out a declaration stressing that it didn’t engage with ICE’s steps except where required by law. ” Regular with our historic process and the practice of cities and corporations throughout the country, law enforcement may have a judicial warrant to provide non-public university areas, including university properties”, the statement read in part. ” Columbia is committed to complying with all legal responsibility and supporting our student body and school society”.
A petition demanding Khalil’s quick release posted on Action Network garnered more than 349, 000 names by Sunday evening.
An ICE representative reportedly told Khalil’s attorney Greer that the company was enforcing a State Department edict to withdraw Khalil’s student visa as well as his natural card, pursuant to Trump’s subsequent pledge to arrest international student “agitators” accountable for fomenting campus unrest.
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
A Palestinian-American, Mahmoud Khalil was reportedly raised in a refugee camp in Syria. Before studying in Columbia, he worked for the British Embassy in Beirut. His lawyer said he is a Green Card holder and did not come to the US on a student visa. According to reports, Khalil is married, and his US-citizen wife is eight months pregnant. The couple lived in the university-owned apartment, which was raided by ICE.
