A judge is slamming the brakes on the Trump administration’s attempt to deport a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s 2024 student encampment protests.
The judge ordered the Trump administration and attorneys for Mahmoud Khalil to appear for a conference Wednesday morning at 11:30 a.m. at court in Lower Manhattan.
“To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, [Khalil] shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” Judge Jesse Furman wrote.
“This is good news and we have to keep fighting, both to ensure that he is released and to protect free speech,” said Jamie Beran, CEO of Bend The Arc Jewish Action.
“It doesn’t matter what our views are, we are all vulnerable as long as any one of us can be detained without due process,” supporter Madeleine Elfenbein added.
The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil
Khalil was arrested Saturday night at his university-owned apartment by federal immigration authorities. Amy Greer, Khalil’s attorney, said they claimed they were acting on a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa and green card.
Khalil is being held in Jena, Louisiana, awaiting immigration court proceedings that might result in his deportation, according to ICE records. His pregnant wife described him as humble and selfless, always willing to stand up for the oppressed.
President Trump said Monday that Khalil’s arrest was just the first “of many to come.”
Khalil’s arrest was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism,” alleging the former student “led activities aligned to Hamas,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. It did not provide details of any charges or crimes.
Protesters take to the streets in Lower Manhattan
Word of the judge’s decision comes as protesters took to the streets of Manhattan to demonstrate against Khalil’s arrest. Demonstrators gathered at Foley Square to call for his release. That group of protesters then started marching through Lower Manhattan. Video from Chopper 2 showed at least one protester being taken into custody.
“Mr. Khalil has been detained despite being a legal permanent resident, which officials are threatening to strip away — a direct flouting of this country’s immigration laws. Equally disturbing is the infringement of Mr. Khalil’s First Amendment rights and the broader implications for free speech and peaceful activism in this country,” said Theo Oshiro, of the group Make The Road States.
Advocates and faculty from Columbia and Barnard College called for unity and action.
“This is a time to be ever more outraged because what happened to Mahmoud can happen to anyone,” Rabbi Jason Garrett Klein said.
“Now we are facing a horrifying reality that our own student, a member of the Columbia community, has become a political prisoner here in the United States,” said Michael Farris, a Columbia mathematics professor.
“This is a blatant example of how this administration uses antisemitism as a smoke screen to enact its plans to bully, blame and ban people, plans that have nothing to do with jews or our safety,” Beran added.
Students at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, also known as SIPA, are calling for the release of Khalil.
“Mahmoud is a man of great character. He does not support terrorism,” one said.
“I feel deeply worried about him. He’s a friend to a lot of people,” another added.
“A challenging moment for our community”
In a message to the Columbia University community Monday, Katrina Armstrong, the school’s interim president, said the arrest and previous suspension of $400 million in federal funds “a challenging moment for our community.”
“Columbia University exists to serve the United States and the world, by teaching, creating, and advancing knowledge. We pursue that mission through freedom of expression, open inquiry, a wide range of perspectives, and respectful debate. These are Columbia’s values, they are America’s values, they are essential to a functioning democracy, and we will fight for them. We do this for our students and for our future,” Armstrong wrote. “All eyes are on Columbia at present. It falls to us to ensure our University, and indeed the values of higher education more broadly, survive and thrive.”
Armstrong said the the university will “work tirelessly” to fulfill its mission and take “a methodical and thoughtful approach to addressing the multitude of challenges ahead of us.”
“We will follow the law, as has always been the case,” Armstrong wrote. “It remains the long-standing practice of the University, and the practice of cities and institutions throughout the country, that law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including residential University buildings.”
