A federal judge in Manhattan held that anti-Israel agitator Mahmoud Khalil should not be deported on Monday “unless the court orders something else.”
Halil, who led the anti-Israel protests and camp on the Columbia University campus, was taken into custody on New York City's Upper West Side on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said he was a Colombian graduate student who led activities along Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.
The judge ordered a hearing Wednesday. This comes after Khalil's attorneys argued that their client should be illegally detained and released.
Politicians also made a statement in the defense of Halil. “Squad” member, Rep. Rashida Tribe (d-mich.), criticised his arrest and called the incident a “severe violation of constitutional rights.”
Ice Agent arrests anti-Israel activists who led protests for months on Columbia University campus
D-Mich. Rep. Rashida Tlaib expressed concern to anti-Israeli activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by ICE agents on March 8th. (Getty Images/Pool)
In a post published on Instagram on Sunday, Tlaib wrote, “It's dangerous to allow governments to target people based on political speeches,” warning that “more targeting for students like this will happen.”
“Everyone should be worried about this,” Tlaib said in an Instagram video.
Michigan lawmakers also told reports that Halil had revoked his student visa after his lawyer said he was a legal permanent resident.
“They had revoked his student visa, well, what do you think? He doesn't have a student visa,” claimed Tlaib. “He is a green card holder. A legal permanent resident.”
“Now again, they will continue to be involved with the lawyers… he or she asked for a warrant, they hung up,” she continued. “If you believe in constitutional rights, you know that they are targeting this person, and everyone knows he is very vocal about the Palestinian genocide in Gaza.
In a X post Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James reflected Tlaib's concerns.
Colombian anti-Israel protesters say Trump's $400 million subsidies on university grants is “a scary tactic”
File – Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil will be on the Columbia University campus in New York on April 29, 2024 at the Palestinian protest camp. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)
“I am very concerned about the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian advocate and legal permanent resident,” James's post read. “My office is monitoring the situation and we are in touch with his lawyer.”
Khalil's lawyer, Amy E. Greer, issued a statement claiming that his client was “mistaked.”
“Last night, the ice agent mistakenly arrested Mahmoud Khalil, claiming that the Mahmoud visa had been revoked. “Faced with that fact, the ice agent detained him anyway.”
President Donald Trump, However, he said in a recent social media post that Halil's fears were “the first arrest of anyone coming.”
“We know that Columbia and other universities, other universities engaged in terrorist, anti-Semitism, and anti-American activities, that the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in the Truth Social Post.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. , and union activists will discuss freedom of speech on a university campus at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/j. Scott Apple White)
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“Many are paid agitators, not students,” he added. “We will find these terrorist sympathizers from our country, arrest them and deport them.
Fox News Digital has contacted Tlaib's office for additional comment.
According to Ice, Khalil is being held at the Lasalle detention facility in Louisiana.
Pilar Arias from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
