President Donald Trump Claims Mahmoud Khalil Is a "Radical, Foreign, Pro-Hamas Student" — What Happened to Him?

On March 10, 2025, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social in order to brag about an arrest made by ICE agents. According to him, the person they detained, Mahmoud Khalil, is a "radical, foreign, pro-Hamas student" at Columbia University. He then went on to assure the American people that this was the "first arrest of many to come." In his post, President Trump claimed there are more students at Columbia and other universities who have "engaged in pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity."

In response to Khalil's arrest, protests erupted across the country. One in New York City was captured on video showing law enforcement taking protestors into custody. Journalist Jesse Singal spoke with an immigration attorney who told him that the United States has entered into "very scary territory." What happened to Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil?

Khalil was arrested a few days after President Trump pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University. The president said this was due to the school's supposed support of pro-Palestinian protests, which were labeled as antisemitic. A post to X from the Homeland Security account confirmed that Khalil was arrested due to allegedly leading activities that "aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization."

According to the ACLU, Khalil was coming home from an iftar dinner with his pregnant wife when agents arrested him at their home. Khalil, a U.S. green card holder, was then put on a plane and sent to a detention facility in Louisiana. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post to X, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." The ICE agents also threatened to arrest Khallil's wife.

Khalil completed his master's degree at Columbia in December 2024 and was spearheading the student-led, anti-war movement at the school. During the protests, Khalil took center stage as one of the students engaging with university officials regarding the end of the tent encampments that sprung up a few months prior, reported the Associate Press. As such, he was under investigation by a new Columbia University office, which was cracking down on the pro-Palestinian protestors.

According to CNN, a federal judge in New York has temporarily blocked Khalil from being deported. "To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise," said the judge in a court filing.

Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer, said, "ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud follows the U.S. government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza." She continued, "The U.S. government has made clear that they will use immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress that speech."

Per the court documents, the night before his arrest, Khalil emailed interim university president Katrina Armstrong to request legal help. In the email, Khalil said he was erroneously being called a "terrorist threat" and said a "dehumanizing doxing campaign" was being lodged against him. Khalil's family has created a fundraiser on Chuffed to raise money for his legal defense fund. They are hoping to get $250,000.