(NewsNation) — A judge will hear arguments Wednesday about the arrest of a Columbia University graduate student who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
Mahmoud Khalil, who was born in Syria and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp there, holds legal permanent resident status in the United States. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Khalil on Saturday and transferred him to a detention center in Louisiana.
The court on Wednesday will hear arguments alleging Khalil was wrongfully detained for his role in last year’s protests at Columbia University. A judge will examine his habeas corpus petition at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The hearing is the first challenge to President Donald Trump’s January executive order prohibiting antisemitism on college campuses and using that as justification for deportation.
According to Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, ICE officers said his student visa was revoked under Trump’s executive order. When Khalil showed them he was not in the country on a student visa but rather as a legal permanent resident, the officers said that was also revoked, Greer said.
“I think we ought to get them all out of the country,” Trump said about Khalil’s arrest Tuesday. “They’re troublemakers, they’re agitators. They don’t love our country. We ought to get them the hell out. I think that guy — I heard his statements too. They were plenty bad, and I think we had to get him the hell out of the country.”
Khalil’s lawyer argues that ICE’s actions violate his First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.
A federal judge in Manhattan blocked Khalil’s deportation earlier this week. Khalil is a green card holder, which allows him due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Can ICE take away Mahmoud Khalil’s green card?
Khalil was one of the most visible activists at Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian rallies in 2024. The Department of Homeland Security has accused him of “leading activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The agency is sanctioned to initiate deportation proceedings against green card holders for a broad range of alleged criminal activity.
But according to immigration experts, the detention of a legal permanent resident who has not been charged with a crime marked an extraordinary move with an uncertain legal foundation.
“I would gather that anyone that has a political view or has protested and also has a green card would be nervous,” Rosanna Berardi, managing partner at Berardi Immigration Law, told NewsNation.
“If this is any indication of the administration’s position on green card holders that their own agency vetted at a super-high level and gave a green card … and this is the behavior of the administration, I would be gravely concerned,” Berardi said.
NewsNation has reached out to Khalil’s lawyer, the Justice Department, DHS and Columbia University for comment but has not yet heard back.
Mahmoud Khalil case first ‘of many to come’
Trump himself said Khalil’s arrest was the first of many during his second term. The administration is not only targeting students who participated in protests but also the universities themselves.
The Department of Education sent letters to 60 universities warning they were under investigation for alleged antisemitic discrimination and harassment for allowing pro-Palestinian protests to occur on school grounds.
Following the letters, the University of California, Los Angeles — the site of a large pro-Khalil protest Tuesday — announced it is starting a new initiative to combat antisemitism on campus.
The Trump administration has already canceled $400 million worth of grants to Columbia University as of Friday. The school’s response to pro-Palestinian protests on its New York City campus was explicitly cited as the reason behind the funding changes.
Harvard University announced a faculty and staff hiring freeze Monday due to “substantial financial uncertainties driven by rapidly shifting federal policies.”
