A Palestinian student protester at Columbia University is arrested by US immigration agents as part of Trump’s crackdown

President Trump’s crackdown included the detention of a Palestinian student protester at Columbia University by US immigration officials.

President Donald Trump’s crackdown on some anti-Israel demonstrators has included the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian PhD student and well-known participant in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, by US immigration officials.

According to the Student Workers of Columbia labor organization, Khalil, a student at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested on Saturday night at his residence on campus by US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials.

He has a US permanent resident green card, and his wife, a US citizen, is eight months pregnant, the union said. Criticizing the arrest as an assault on permitted political speech, civil rights organizations have denounced it.

Khalil worried that the government was targeting him for talking to the media about Trump’s condemnation of student demonstrators in an interview with reporters just hours before he was arrested.

Following Khalil’s arrest, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on social media that “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” Requests for comment were not answered by his office, and he did not elaborate.

Khalil was arrested for having “led activities aligned to Hamas,” according to a later social media post from DHS, which did not provide further details. Additionally, DHS officials did not answer questions from Reuters.

According to US law, organizations classified as terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, which controls its militant wing and governs Gaza, are not allowed to receive “material support or resources.” Nevertheless, “activities aligned to” these groupings are neither defined nor made illegal by the legislation. No further offense or material assistance to Hamas has been charged against Khalil by DHS.