U.S. immigration agents arrest Palestinian student at home, a day after Trump revokes millions in federal funding to Columbia Premium

ICE arrests Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University, sparking controversy over alleged ties to Hamas.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday (March 8, 2025) entered the university apartment of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian student activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student encampment movement, claiming they were acting on a State Department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney.

Later in the day, the Department of Homeland Security justified Mr. Khalil’s arrest stating his activities “aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation.” 

“On March 9, 2025, in support of President [Donald] Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student. Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security,” it wrote on social media platform X.

This comes a day after the Trump administration moved to cancel $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University, citing “the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”  

Mr. Khalil, a green-card holder and a graduate student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, was one of the lead negotiators on behalf of pro-Palestine protesters at 2024’s Gaza solidarity encampment in the university.  

His lawyer, Amy E. Greer, in a statement issued on Sunday (March 9, 2025) said they were not aware of his whereabouts after initial reports of him being detained in an ICE centre. “Last night ICE agents wrongfully arrested Mahmoud Khalil, claiming his student visa was revoked - even though Mahmoud is a legal permanent resident (green card) and not in the U.S. on a student visa. Confronted with that fact, the ICE agents detained him anyway,” she said.  

Ms. Greer said they filed a habeas corpus petition on Mr. Khalil’s behalf challenging the validity of his arrest and detention.