Palestinian Student Who Led Ivy League Protest Arrested, May Lose Visa

Federal immigration authorities on Saturday arrested a former Columbia University student, who was at the forefront of the pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, citing a State Department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney.

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee raised in Syria, who graduated from Columbia last December, was taken into custody from his university-owned apartment near the Ivy League campus in New York.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered the building and arrested him, his lawyer, Amy Greer, told AP. Mr Khalil's wife, who is eight months pregnant, was not informed of the reason for his detention, Ms Greer said.

Mr Khalil played a key role in last spring's pro-Palestinian student encampment protests at Columbia, part of nationwide demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza. He was selected as a student negotiator in talks with university administrators.

Mr Khalil had also been under investigation by Columbia's newly formed Office of Institutional Equity, which was tasked with reviewing students who criticised Israel. The committee reportedly sent disciplinary notices to students for activities such as social media posts and participation in unauthorised protests.

"We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained," Ms Greer told AP. "This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats."

Ms Greer said she spoke to an ICE agent during the arrest, who initially claimed they were executing an order to revoke MR Khalil's student visa. When informed that Mr Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said that too was being revoked. He has since been transferred to an immigration detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Under US law, only an immigration court can revoke a green card, not government agencies. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio intends to revoke visas of foreign nationals deemed to support Hamas or other terrorist groups, using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify individuals.

Columbia University has been a particular focus of federal scrutiny. On Friday, the administration announced it would cut $400 million in grants and contracts to the university, accusing it of failing to address antisemitism on campus.

The arrest comes amid the Trump administration's intensified crackdown on student activists critical of Israel. President Donald Trump has vowed to deport foreign students and imprison protesters involved in demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza. 

"They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they're doing something, regardless of the stakes for students," Mr Khalil said last week. "It's mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech."

Columbia's encampment protests, which began last spring, inspired similar demonstrations at colleges across the US. Many universities called in local police to break up the protests, leading to hundreds of student arrests.