Mahmoud Khalil

Mahmoud Khalil
Khalil in July 2025
Born1995 (age 30–31)
Damascus, Syria
EducationLebanese American University, Beirut (BS)
Columbia University (MPA)
Known for
Spouse
Noor Abdalla
​
(m. 2023)​
Children1

Mahmoud Khalil (Arabic: محمود خليل, romanized: Maḥmūd Khalīl; born 1995) is an Algerian-Palestinian activist known for his role as a negotiator and spokesperson in the 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment and broader protests in solidarity with Palestine at Columbia University during the Gaza war and genocide while he was a graduate student at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, and for his detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2025, under the second presidency of Donald Trump.

Early life

Khalil was born in 1995 to Palestinian parents in a refugee camp in Syria.[1] His mother has Algerian ancestors who migrated to Palestine during the Ottoman Empire, which is how Khalil holds Algerian citizenship.[2] He organized protests against the Assad regime during the Syrian revolution, but fled Syria for Lebanon in 2013 after two of his friends were detained.[3] In Lebanon, he worked for the United Kingdom's Foreign Office, where he managed part of its Chevening Scholarship program.[1]

Khalil completed his bachelor's degree in computer science at Lebanese American University in Beirut before enrolling in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, where he earned his Master of Public Administration in development practice in December 2024.[4] The same year, he was granted lawful permanent resident status in the United States.[5][6]

Activism

In April 2024, Khalil represented the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as a negotiator and spokesperson. The encampment, as well as the broader Columbia protests in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, demanded that the university officially call for an end to the Gaza war and genocide and divest from Israel, especially from companies whose products, services, or infrastructure it has extensively used in its military operations in Gaza.[7] The negotiations lasted from April 19 to April 29, when University President Minouche Shafik announced the end of negotiations and that Columbia would "not divest from Israel".[8] According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, Columbia's leadership did not reveal the chain of command outside the negotiation room and "positioned key administrators to be the public face for negotiations and kept others within University leadership, including the trustees, away from the conversation" so that "the protesters never came into direct dialogue with those empowered to answer their demands".[8]

Khalil was not arrested during the protests, nor was he accused of participating in actions such as the Hind's Hall occupation of Hamilton Hall.[9]

Khalil said Columbia accused him of misconduct in December 2024, weeks before his graduation. He said, "I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I had nothing to do with."[10][11][12] Khalil said that, when he refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement, Columbia required him to sign before he could see the case evidence, placed a hold on his transcript, and threatened to block him from graduating.[11] He said Columbia backed down after he appealed with a lawyer.[11]

On September 21, Khalil addressed hundreds at a Voices for Gaza fundraising event with Mosab Abu Toha, Aasif Mandvi, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Hala Alyan, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.[13]

Attempted deportation and litigation

Background

Online campaign against Khalil

Before his detention, Khalil was targeted by an online campaign to have him deported.[14] In January 2025, the far-right Zionist group Betar US posted on Twitter that it had given his information to "multiple contacts" and that ICE was "aware of his home address and whereabouts".[15] Canary Mission, a pro-Israel doxing website, also compiled a webpage about him.[16] According to an email Khalil sent to Columbia president Katrina Armstrong on March 7, the campaign was led by Columbia affiliates Shai Davidai and David Lederer, who had labeled him a "security threat" and called for his deportation.[17][15] The New York Times said that Davidai "called on Marco Rubio to deport Mr. Khalil".[14] Khalil urged Armstrong and Columbia to "intervene and provide the necessary protections to prevent further harm" and asked for legal support for himself and other international students threatened with deportation.[15]

Federal funding cut to Columbia

The day before the arrest, the Trump administration canceled approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia, citing an alleged failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment on campus.[18]

Federal surveillance

During the trial of American Association of University Professors v. Rubio,[19] Darren McCormack, a special agent with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and the agent who oversaw Khalil's arrest, testified that the order to arrest him came from above, saying, "the Secretary of State and/or the White House had an interest in Mr. Khalil."[20][21][22] McCormack added that he had been instructed to surveil Khalil before the arrest.[22][23] According to Politico, "All four agents said they were never informed that the academics were being targeted for deportation due to their pro-Palestinian views, their criticism of Israel or for their political views—the central claim in the lawsuit."[23]

ICE detention and release

On March 8, 2025, plainclothes ICE agents apprehended Khalil at his Columbia University-owned residential building in Morningside Heights without a warrant,[24][25][26] citing the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g). The US government, via Secretary of State Marco Rubio, claimed his activism harmed US foreign policy. Khalil was not charged with a crime or alleged to have engaged in any activity legally prohibited to US residents.[27][28] His wife, who was eight months pregnant,[14] tried to find him at the immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Manhattan and then at the Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey; according to court filings, officials would not tell her where he had been taken.[29]

By the morning of March 10, ICE had transported Khalil to Louisiana, according to the ICE online system.[29] He was detained for 104 days at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana—over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from his wife and legal team.[30] His arrest sparked protests in New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, with support from figures like US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called the arrest politically motivated.[17][31][32] On April 28, Columbia first publicly acknowledged Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi by name in a university-wide email focusing on expansions to the International Students and Scholars Office.[33][34][35]

Khalil completed the requirements for his Columbia degree before being detained, but was incarcerated during the graduation ceremony. His wife participated in an unofficial "People's Commencement" ceremony at Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on his behalf.[36][37][38][39] At Columbia's official commencement ceremony, Claire Shipman, acting university president and former co-chair of the board of trustees, was booed and jeered during her remarks with chants of "free Mahmoud" and "free Palestine".[40][41][42][43]

On June 11, 2025, federal judge Michael E. Farbiarz ruled Khalil’s detention unconstitutional, noting he was neither a flight risk nor a community threat. Khalil was released on June 20, 2025, after a court found the government’s case relied on unverified tabloid reports. His case drew attention as part of a broader Trump administration effort to deport pro-Palestinian student activists.[44]

In July 2025, Khalil filed a claim for $20 million in damages against the Trump administration.[45][46]

The second Trump administration appealed Farbiarz's ruling. It argued that such decisions should be made by immigration courts, not federal courts, and hence that Farbiarz did not have jurisdiction over the case.[47] On January 15, 2026, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia ruled 2–1 in favor of Trump and instructed the lower court to dismiss Khalil's habeas corpus petition.[48]

Deportation order from Louisiana judge

On September 17, 2025, Jamee Comans, an immigration judge in Louisiana, ordered Khalil to be deported to either Syria or Algeria. Khalil’s lawyers suggested intention to appeal the deportation order.[49] 108 current and former professors at Columbia and Barnard signed an amicus brief in support of Khalil's appeal of the deportation order.[50]

Khalil v. The Heritage Foundation et al.

On July 14, 2026 Khalil filed a lawsuit in the District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, federal officials in the Trump administration entered into a conspiracy with groups including the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, and Betar to "single out Mr. Khalil and other non-citizen Palestinians and their supporters for arrest, detention, and deportation, as punishment for their support of Palestinian rights."[51][52]

Views

Khalil identified himself as a Palestinian political prisoner arrested because he exercised his right to free speech and "advocated for a free Palestine"[53][54] and said the case against him was "part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent" by the Trump administration.[55]

Of the Trump administration's attempts to deport him, Khalil said in April 2026, "The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine—and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it."[56][57]

In an interview with The Forward, Khalil said, "the Jewish people are part of the land and they should remain that way" and that he wanted "to liberate everyone".[58] He also said that "a lot of Jewish people subscribe to the idea of Zionism because of the fear of persecution", that he has "a nuanced view of the Zionist project that goes beyond 'Zionism is bad'", and that "there are different layers to that project that unfortunately aren't being seen across the Arab world or among Palestinians."[58]

In an interview with Ezra Klein for The New York Times, responding to Klein's question whether Khalil thought Hamas, with its October 7 attacks, wanted to pull Israel into "some kind of war" or whether the attacks were something that "needed to happen to break the equilibrium", Khalil said he saw it more as the latter: that it was "a desperate attempt to tell the world that Palestinians are here, that Palestinians are part of the equation", driven by the absence of a political process and the imminence of an Israel-Saudi Arabia deal.[3] He added, "they had to do that, according to their calculations—which, it's obvious, were not right."[3] Khalil also opposed the expectation that Palestinians should be "perfect victims after 75 years of dispossession, of killing people in Gaza, being under siege—at that point for over 17 years."[3][59]

Of the conduct of Columbia University's administration in the early days of the Gaza war, Khalil said, "The narrative that Columbia pushed from the very beginning was a very pro-Israel narrative. By October 8, there were hundreds of Palestinians killed by Israel. Yet Columbia erased that from their communication." Khalil said that Palestinian students' appeals for academic accommodations and acknowledgement of Palestinian suffering were not addressed: "Our ask was very simple: Treat us equally, see us as humans. Yet that was met with opposition or just no answers whatsoever."[3] Of antisemitism at Columbia University, Khalil said, "there is, of course, no place for antisemitism" in the Palestine solidarity student movement,[60] and that there was "manufactured hysteria about antisemitism at Columbia because of the protests", adding, "it's not like antisemitism is happening at Columbia because of the Palestine movement".[3][59]

Personal life

Khalil is married to Noor Abdalla, a U.S. citizen. The couple has one son who was born while Khalil was incarcerated.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Bhutani, Anvee (2025-03-12). "Who is Mahmoud Khalil? The detained Columbia graduate praised as steady negotiator". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  2. ↑ Bose, Meghnad (2025-03-23). ""First, They Came for Mahmoud Khalil"". Drop Site News.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Klein, Ezra (2025-08-05). "Opinion | The Trump Administration Tried to Silence Mahmoud Khalil, So I Asked Him to Talk". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-08-09.
  4. ↑ "Who is Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist facing US deportation?". 20 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Allen, Jonathan (2025-06-21). "Mahmoud Khalil vows to resume pro-Palestinian activism after release from US jail". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  6. 1 2 "Wife of detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil announces birth of son in his absence". NBC News. 2025-04-23. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  7. ↑ M., Dasha; Qashou, Luma; Behrangi, Parviz; Reynolds, Caroline; Haddad, Amal (2024-07-02). "Palestine is the Vanguard for Our Liberation: Insights from the Students' Intifada at Columbia University". Middle East Critique. 33 (3): 487–516. doi:10.1080/19436149.2024.2383827. ISSN 1943-6149.
  8. 1 2 Vettikkal, Ann (15 July 2025). "Inside the Negotiation Room: How Dialogue Between Columbia and Pro-Palestinian Protesters Broke Down". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  9. ↑ "Pro-Palestinian student protester detained by US immigration officials, says lawyer". BBC News. 2025-03-09. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  10. ↑ Offenhartz, Jake (2025-03-09). "ICE arrests Palestinian student who helped lead Columbia protests, attorney says". PBS News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  11. 1 2 3 "Columbia University investigates students critical of Israel amid Trump's threats". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2025-03-06. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  12. ↑ "ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests". NPR. Associated Press. 2025-03-10. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  13. ↑ Carbonara, Colette. "Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA '24, addresses hundreds at 'Voices for Gaza' fundraising event". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  14. 1 2 3 Shapiro, Eliza (March 9, 2025). "ICE Arrests Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  15. 1 2 3 Thakker, Prem (March 10, 2025). "SCOOP: Emails Show Mahmoud Khalil Asked Columbia for Protection a Day Before He Was Detained". Zeteo. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  16. ↑ Wilson, Michael; Rothfeld, Michael; Ley, Ana (March 16, 2025). "Mahmoud Khalil's Case Sparks Debate at Columbia University". The New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  17. 1 2 Rosenfeld, Arno (2025-03-10). "Jewish groups targeted Columbia grad Mahmoud Khalil — then ICE arrested him". The Forward. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  18. ↑ Svurlga, Susan. "Palestinian protester arrested by ICE despite green card, lawyer says". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  19. ↑ "American Association of University Professors v. Rubio: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law". Knight First Amendment Institute. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  20. ↑ "Landmark Trial Ends, With Court's Ruling to Come; Record Uncovers New Details on Ideological-Deportation Policy and Its Effects on Academic Life". Knight First Amendment Institute. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  21. ↑ Pickering, Emily. "ICE agents testify they had never before been asked to conduct arrests similar to those of Columbia affiliates". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  22. 1 2 "Homeland Security Agents Stunned by Pro-Palestine Arrest Orders". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  23. 1 2 "Federal agents describe unusual run-up to arrests of Pro-Palestinian academics". POLITICO. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  24. ↑ "New Filings: Government Admits It Had No Warrant for Mahmoud Khalil When Agents Took Him". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  25. ↑ "ICE did not have warrant when agents detained Mahmoud Khalil: Court filing". ABC News. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  26. ↑ Otterman, Troy ClossonSharon; Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (2026-02-28). "A Tale of Two Seasons at Columbia, and Two Responses to Student Arrests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  27. ↑ McCausland, Phil (March 12, 2025). "Who is Mahmoud Khalil, Palestinian student activist facing US deportation?". BBC News. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  28. ↑ Betts, Anna (March 12, 2025). "US government asks court to move case over detention of activist Mahmoud Khalil out of New York". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  29. 1 2 Valdez, Jonah (2025-03-11). "ICE Secretly Hauled Mahmoud Khalil to Louisiana as Retaliation, Lawyers Allege". The Intercept. Retrieved 2026-04-14.
  30. ↑ Musgrave, Shawn (2025-03-14). "Why Trump Is So Desperate to Keep Mahmoud Khalil in Louisiana". The Intercept. Retrieved 2026-04-14.
  31. ↑ Member, French Writers Page Mandy Taheri Weekend Reporter Newsweek Is A. Trust Project (2025-03-09). "Who is Mahmoud Khalil? Columbia University grad detained by ICE". Newsweek. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  32. ↑ Durkee, Alison. "Mahmoud Khalil: What We Know About Trump Administration's Arrest Of Columbia Pro-Palestinian Protester". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  33. ↑ "Supporting Our International Community | Office of the President". president.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
  34. ↑ Chen, Heather. "In Columbia's varying responses to student detainments, the question of a "Palestine exception" lingers". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
  35. ↑ Chien, Celine. ""Nightmare come true": Faculty and students express fear, confusion, and relief over ICE's brief detention of Ellie Aghayeva, GS '26". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  36. ↑ "Columbia Students Honor Mahmoud Khalil in Unofficial Commencement". Hyperallergic. 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  37. ↑ The New Arab Staff. "Mahmoud Khalil's wife accepts diploma on his behalf in NYC event". The New Arab. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  38. ↑ Staff, Maktoob (2025-05-21). "Columbia University failed him: Mahmoud Khalil's wife accepts diploma on his behalf at People's University for Palestine". Maktoob media. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  39. ↑ Sainato, Michael (2025-05-21). "'Free Mahmoud': Columbia students boo acting president at graduation as Khalil is still detained". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  40. ↑ "Columbia University's acting president booed when noting absence of activist Mahmoud Khalil in commencement speech". NBC News. 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  41. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-21). "Graduates Boo Columbia's President at Commencement After a Fraught Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  42. ↑ Banerjee, Isha. "Columbia College celebrates 2025 Class Day". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  43. ↑ Freiman, Jordan (20 May 2025). "Columbia University acting president booed during graduation speech, faces chants of "free Mahmoud"". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  44. ↑ Rosen, Jacob (2025-06-21). "Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil released from ICE detention in Louisiana - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. with contributions from Jesse Zanger. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  45. ↑ Svrluga, Susan (2025-07-11). "Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim against government". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  46. ↑ "Mahmoud Khalil files $20m claim against Trump administration". www.bbc.com. 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  47. ↑ Bromwich, Jonah E.; Nehamas, Nicholas (2026-05-08). "Mahmoud Khalil Hurtles Toward Potential Deportation as U.S. Speeds Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  48. ↑ "Appeals court reverses decision that freed Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil". CNN. Associated Press. January 15, 2026. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  49. ↑ "Immigration judge orders Mahmoud Khalil deported to Syria or Algeria". POLITICO. 2025-09-17. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  50. ↑ Bordoff, Molly. "Over 100 Columbia and Barnard professors file amicus brief opposing deportation order for Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA '24". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  51. ↑ Hurwitz, Sophie (July 14, 2026). "Mahmoud Khalil is suing the White House and Heritage Foundation". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  52. ↑ "Khalil v. The Heritage Foundation et al". Center for Constitutional Rights. Retrieved 2026-08-10.
  53. ↑ "Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil calls himself a 'political prisoner' in new letter". ABC News. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  54. ↑ "Mahmoud Khalil: Palestinian Columbia student activist writes about arrest". www.bbc.com. March 19, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  55. ↑ El-Fekki, Amira (March 19, 2025). "Mahmoud Khalil's letter from detention in full". Newsweek. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  56. ↑ "Immigration appeals board denies Mahmoud Khalil's bid to dismiss deportation". NBC News. 2026-04-10. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  57. ↑ Press, The Associated (2026-04-10). "Immigration board denies Mahmoud Khalil's appeal". NPR. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  58. 1 2 Rosenfeld, Arno (2026-04-07). "Mahmoud Khalil wants to reassure you". The Forward. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  59. 1 2 Gilson, Grace (2025-08-05). "Mahmoud Khalil pushes back on claims of antisemitism at Columbia in Ezra Klein interview". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2025-08-09.
  60. ↑ Bailey, Chelsea (2025-03-11). "Who is Mahmoud Khalil? A look at the Columbia University protestor detained by ICE". CNN. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
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