Muslim migrant involved in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia arrested, green card revoked

Image: Jihad Watch

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) – U.S. immigration authorities detained a Palestinian graduate student who has been an active participant in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University in New York, as part of President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on certain anti-Israel activists.

Mahmoud Khalil, a student at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, was apprehended by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents at his campus residence on Saturday evening, according to a statement from the Student Workers of Columbia labor union.

Reports indicate that Khalil’s wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, was with him at the time, and that he holds a U.S. permanent residency green card. His arrest has been condemned by civil rights organizations, who view it as an infringement on protected political speech.

In an interview with Reuters just hours before his arrest on Saturday, Khalil expressed concerns that his public statements and media engagement were making him a target of the government, particularly in light of Trump’s remarks about student protests.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)