Judge temporarily blocks effort to deport Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia student protests

Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student protest movement demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, was arrested Saturday night by federal immigration authorities, according to his attorney.

A federal judge in New York has blocked any efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was arrested Saturday night, until a conference Wednesday, according to court documents. It’s unclear whether he will appear in court on Wednesday. “To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” the Monday filing said. Khalil, who helped lead Columbia’s student protest movement demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, was arrested Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who said they were acting on a State Department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney. His arrest is the latest escalation by Trump – in what he calls “the first arrest of many to come”– to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, and comes days after he vowed to deport foreign students and imprison “agitators” involved in “illegal protests.” On Monday evening, hundreds carried signs as they marched through lower Manhattan and called for Khalil’s release.