Background Online campaign against Khalil Before his detention, Khalil was targeted by an
online campaign to have him deported. In January 2025, the
far-right Zionist group
Betar US posted on
Twitter that it had given his information to "multiple contacts" and that ICE was "aware of his home address and whereabouts".
Canary Mission, a pro-Israel
doxing website, also compiled a webpage about him. According to an email Khalil sent to Columbia president
Katrina Armstrong on March 7, the campaign was led by Columbia affiliates
Shai Davidai and David Lederer, who had labeled him a "security threat" and called for his deportation.
ICE detention and release On March 8, 2025, plainclothes ICE agents apprehended Khalil at his Columbia University-owned residential building in
Morningside Heights without a
warrant, citing a provision of the
Immigration and Nationality Act. The
federal government of the United States, via Secretary of State
Marco Rubio, claimed his activism harmed United States foreign policy. Khalil was not charged with a crime and was not alleged to have engaged in any activity legally prohibited to US residents. His wife, who was eight months pregnant, tried to find him at the immigration court at the
Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Manhattan and then at the
Elizabeth Detention Center in
New Jersey; according to court filings, officials would not tell her where he had been taken. By the morning of March 10, ICE had transported Khalil to
Louisiana, according to the ICE online system. He was detained for 104 days at the
LaSalle Detention Center in
Jena, Louisiana—over 1,000 miles from his wife and legal team. His arrest sparked protests in
New York,
Washington, D.C., and
San Francisco, with support from figures like U.S. representative
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called it politically motivated. On April 28, Columbia first publicly acknowledged Khalil and
Mohsen Mahdawi by name in a university-wide email focusing on expansions to the International Students and Scholars Office. Khalil completed the requirements for his Columbia degree before being detained, but was incarcerated during the
graduation ceremony. His wife participated in an unofficial "People's Commencement" ceremony at
Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on his behalf. At Columbia's official
commencement ceremony,
Claire Shipman, acting university president and former co-chair of the
board of trustees, was booed and jeered during her remarks with chants of "free Mahmoud" and "free Palestine". On June 11, 2025, federal judge
Michael Farbiarz ruled Khalil’s detention unconstitutional, noting he was neither a flight risk nor a community threat. Khalil was released on June 20, 2025, after a court found the government’s case relied on unverified tabloid reports. His case drew attention as part of a broader Trump administration effort to deport pro-Palestinian student activists. In July 2025, Khalil filed a claim for $20 million in damages against the Trump administration. The
second Trump administration appealed Farbiarz's ruling. It argued that such decisions should be made by immigration courts, not by federal courts, and hence that Farbiarz did not have jurisdiction over the case. On January 15, 2026, a three-judge panel of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia ruled 2–1 in favor of Trump and instructed the lower court to dismiss Khalil’s
habeas petition.
Deportation order from Louisiana judge On September 17, 2025, Jamee Comans, an immigration judge in Louisiana, ordered Khalil to be deported to either Syria or Algeria. Khalil’s lawyers suggested intention to appeal the deportation order. 108 current and former professors at Columbia and Barnard signed an
amicus brief in support of Khalil's appeal of the deportation order. On September 21, Khalil addressed hundreds at a Voices for Gaza fundraising event with
Mosab Abu Toha,
Aasif Mandvi,
Hannah Lillith Assadi,
Hala Alyan, and
Viet Thanh Nguyen. == Views ==