Donald Trump says that a Palestinian student activist held by federal immigration agents is “anti-American”.
Mahmoud Khalil, third cycle student at the Columbia University of International and Public Affairs School, was a leading figure in the protest movement of Pro-Palestinian students from the University.
A New York Federal Judge ordered that Mr. Khalil is not expelled on Monday while the court considers a trial contesting his detention. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
Mr. Khalil was detained in his Columbia building in Manhattan in front of his wife, an eight -month -old American citizen on Saturday evening.
Agents of the Department of Internal Security (DHS) told him that his student visa had been dismissed, but Mr. Khalil has organized a green American residence card since 2024, said his lawyer Amy Greer. The Trump administration did not say what Mr. Khalil is accused or if he has been accused of a crime.
He has since been transferred to a federal prison for Louisiana migrants to wait for the expulsion procedure, according to a database of American detainees. The student’s lawyers began a legal challenge against his arrest.
In an article on social social, Mr. Trump said: “ICE (immigration and customs enlightened) proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a radical student of foreign pro-Hammas on the campus of Columbia University.”
The American president said that Mr. Khalil’s arrest was the “first arrest of many to come”.
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“This is the first arrest of many to come. We know that there are more students in Columbia and other universities across the country who have embarked on a pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic and anti-American activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” he said.
“Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend and expel these terrorist sympathizers from our country – to never come back.”
“If you support terrorism, including the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, your presence is contrary to our interests in national and foreign policy, and you are not welcome here. We expect each of the American colleges and universities to comply,” added the president.
Students say that federal immigration agents have been identified in student housing on the Columbia campus in Manhattan since Thursday, one day before the Trump administration announced that it announcing $ 400 million (310.7 million pounds Sterling) in federal subsidies and contracts granted to university.
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Federal agents tried to hold a second international student, according to workers’ students from Columbia Labor Union.
Trump has distinguished the treatment by Columbia from demonstrations since his return to the White House, saying that the university had enabled anti -Semitic harassment “on and near” his campus.
Mr. Khalil and other militants from Columbia University Apartheid Destrew said that Jewish students were one of the organizers and say that their criticism of Israel and its support for the United States government was wrongly confused with anti -Semitism.
In the unjustified detention dispute filed on Sunday before the Federal Court of Manhattan. Ms. Greer said that Mr. Khalil’s arrest was motivated by his “criticism of American institutions which support Israel”, which, according to her, was protected by freedom of expression by the first amendment of the American Constitution.
“Even the threat of detention and deportation has a frightening effect on the speech,” wrote Ms. Greer.
It is not known when Mr. Khalil will have an audience before an immigration court, which is generally the first step in the expulsion process.
ICE and DHS spokesperson did not provide details on his case on Monday.
As a rule, to expel a person who has a permanent residence in the United States requires a high bar, such as this person convicted of certain types of crimes.
In January, Trump signed an executive decree calling for the Ministry of Justice to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in anti-American colleges and universities”.