{"id":4236,"date":"2025-04-15T13:23:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T13:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/?p=4236"},"modified":"2025-04-15T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T13:23:18","slug":"columbia-student-activist-fights-deportation-amid-crackdown-on-pro-palestinian-voices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/columbia-student-activist-fights-deportation-amid-crackdown-on-pro-palestinian-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia Student Activist Fights Deportation Amid Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Columbia Student Activist Fights Deportation Amid Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Voices<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mahmoud Khalil, a student leader at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbia.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Columbia University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, was arrested on March 8 and now faces deportation under a Trump administration effort targeting international students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khalil, who has been vocal in protesting Israel\u2019s military actions in Gaza, remains in immigration custody in Louisiana while his case moves through court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an op-ed published Friday in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Columbia Spectator<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Khalil described his arrest by federal immigration officers as an \u201cabduction\u201d and said it reflects a broader campaign of intimidation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSince my abduction on March 8, the intimidation and kidnapping of international students who stand for Palestine has only accelerated,\u201d he wrote. The article, titled <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cA Letter to Columbia,\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was dictated and verified by his attorney.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khalil holds a green card and is a lawful U.S. permanent resident.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His legal team argues that his detention violates his due process rights and his freedom of expression. U.S. officials allege that Khalil participated in activities \u201caligned to Hamas,\u201d which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, he has not been charged with any crime, and his lawyer asserts there is no evidence that he has aided any terrorist group.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Related story: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/florida-universities-partner-with-ice-campus-police-to-enforce-immigration-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Florida Universities Partner with ICE: Campus Police to Enforce Immigration Laws<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Growing Tensions Over Free Speech and Immigration Enforcement<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The administration is invoking a provision in immigration law that allows noncitizens to be deported if they are considered threats to U.S. foreign policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly supported this approach, revealing that over 300 student visas have already been revoked. \u201cEvery time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,\u201d Rubio said during a press event in Guyana.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khalil also drew attention to R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, a doctoral student at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tufts.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tufts University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who is similarly facing deportation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Homeland Security officials claim she supported Hamas after co-authoring a student newspaper op-ed calling Israel\u2019s Gaza offensive a \u201cgenocide.\u201d Tufts has defended her, stating her actions align with its free speech policies. A judge has temporarily halted her deportation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reflecting on his situation, Khalil compared it to escaping the Assad regime in Syria. He urged fellow students to continue organizing: \u201cIt is incumbent upon each of you to reclaim the University and join the student movement to carry forward the work of the past year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Columbia has faced sustained backlash over its handling of campus protests. After months of criticism, President Minouche Shafik resigned in August.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The university also had $400 million in federal funds frozen by the Trump administration over alleged failures to protect Jewish students\u2014prompting it to enter negotiations to reverse the funding cut.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continue reading: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/florida-teachers-dismissal-sparks-controversy-over-preferred-names-and-parental-rights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Florida Teacher\u2019s Dismissal Sparks Controversy Over Preferred Names and Parental Rights<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Columbia Student Activist Fights Deportation Amid Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Voices Mahmoud Khalil, a student leader at Columbia University, was arrested on March 8 and now faces deportation under a Trump administration effort targeting international students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.\u00a0 Khalil, who has been vocal in protesting Israel\u2019s military actions in Gaza, remains in immigration custody [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[330],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Columbia Student Activist Fights Deportation Amid Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Voices<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Columbia Student Activist Fights Deportation Amid Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Voices. 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