Palestinian protesters demonstrated in Lower Manhattan on Monday after immigration officials arrested protest leaders at Columbia University against Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent faces of the university’s protests, was arrested on March 9th.
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The White House defends the arrest of pro-Palestinian protest leader and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, and says the Department of Homeland Security is planning to move more protesters forward.
On Tuesday afternoon, White House press chief Caroline Leavitt said the decision to arrest Palestinian green cardholder Halil was in line with President Trump’s recent executive order aimed at cracking down on anti-Semitism on US campuses. The order allows the administration to revoke the visa and send international students if they are determined to be “pro-jihadists” or “empaths of Hamas.”
“Because the president signed that executive order and since his secretary, [Kristi] Noem took oath at DHS. They use intelligence to identify such behavior and activities, particularly our university campuses that engage in illegal activities, and our university campuses that engage in illegal activities,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt did not provide an estimate that some additional arrests could come, but she said she knew “DHS was actively working on it.” Leavitt said Columbia was “engaged in Prohama activities” with the names of other individuals on campus, but the school refused to help DHS.
Leavitt’s comments reflected President Trump’s comments that his administration said “will never return to finding, arresting, and deporting these terrorist sympathizers from our country.”
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt will ask a reporter questions during his daily press conference at the White House on Tuesday. Leavitt said immigration officials are working to arrest additional pro-Palestinian protesters as part of anti-Semitism crackdowns on US campuses.
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Columbia did not immediately respond to requests for comment following Leavitt’s remarks. in statement Columbia announced Sunday, with reports of ice officials around campus, saying the school is “following the law.”
“In line with our longstanding practices and the practices of cities and institutions across the country, law enforcement agencies must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public university areas, including university buildings,” the statement said. “Columbia is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting student organizations and campus communities.”
This spring, waiting for his diploma, Halil was one of the pro-Palestinian student protesters negotiated on behalf of Colombian students last year, protesting Israeli war with Hamas in Gaza and demanding that the university sell it from Israel.
Saturday he was He was arrested by an ice agent in his university-owned apartment and is currently being held at the Jena/LaSalle detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.
Khalil’s lawyers filed a Habeas Corpus Challenge claiming that Khalil’s detention is illegal. The hearing in his case is expected on Wednesday.
Baher Azmy is the legal director of the Constitutional Rights Centre, one of the groups representing Khalil. In an interview with NPR, he characterized Halil’s arrest as a “cool use of enforcement” and rejected the allegation that Halil engaged in activities that could be considered anti-Semitic.
“All he has done so far is to defend Palestinian human rights and try to bring attention to the ongoing urgent issues of genocide against Palestinians,” he said. “The administration cannot decide what speech they think of… being offensive and punished. That principle could not be central to American democracy.”
Khalil’s arrest came the day after the administration cancelled $400 million in federal grants to Colombia. The school said it did not curb anti-Semitism on campus.
Colombia was a key political division within student groups in response to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Last fall, pro-Palestinian protesters held massive protests on campus, ultimately leading to arrests, and the university moved their classes completely remotely for the rest of the spring.
NPR’s Joel Rose contributed to this report.
