A former classmate of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student in Colombia, Palestinian, was recently arrested by ICE, and after his arrest he said “he feels safer” and claimed he “hate America and everything it stands.”
New York Post One of Halil's classmates, a female Jewish graduate student, reported that she was afraid to protect her beliefs from fear of retaliation from Halil. She called Halil a “sinister” presence on campus, saying that she dropped one of her classes for him, “I didn't want to be his target.”
Halil, 30, is a Syrian-born Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University. He was one of the most prominent leaders of last year's Israel-Gaza War protests, many of whom had disrupted ranks and required strict police response.
He was arrested by ICE on March 8th and is currently stored in a Louisiana detention facility.
“The ice is coming, “please get ready,” says a major house GOP member.
Mahmoud Khalil, left, protester, right (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey | Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Services
Democrats and the media accused the Trump administration of attempting to crack down on freedom of speech, but the administration said Halil is a sympathizer of terrorists pose a threat to national security.
After his arrest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in X that the administration would “revoke the visa and/or green cards of American Hamas supporters.”
Halil's former classmate said that although his appearance was normal, his rhetoric felt that she and other Jewish students were very threatened. She filed two Title VI complaints with the Colombian administration, but the university never took any action against him.
“If he was a scary-looking guy who threatened to slap people in the face, that would almost be easy,” she said. “He was spoken very gently and he was paying attention to what he said. It seemed to sidise him more because it was very intentional.
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Protesters were raising the Palestinian flag while marching on April 29, 2024 at the Columbia University campus in New York City. (Reuters/David Diedelgado)
Since his arrest, students have said she “feels safer on campus.”
“I think this country is probably safer without him so that he doesn't know how he got his green card,” she said.
“It looks like he hates America and everything it represents,” she added. “I think he's done a lot here to cause harm and violence and I could see him doing more.”
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Despite criticism from the media, President Donald Trump said Halil's arrest was “the first of many people to come.”
“Following my previously signed executive order, Ice proudly arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a radical foreign pro-Hamas student, on the Columbia University campus,” Trump wrote of the True Society. “We know that Columbia and other universities have more students at other universities that are engaged in terrorist, anti-Semitism, and anti-American activities. The Trump administration won't tolerate that.”
Hamas says that hostages in America and Israel will only be released if a ceasefire is carried out.
People gather at Foley Square to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil in Manhattan on March 10, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We will find these terrorist sympathizers from our country, arrest them and deport them. They will never come back,” he added. “If you support terrorism, including the massacre of innocent men, women and children, then your presence is against the interests of our national and foreign policy and you are not welcome here.”
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On Friday, Ice arrested Rekaa Cordia, the second Colombian student activist. He is from the West Bank and was also involved in protests in Gaza, Israel. Cordia illegally attended the country despite the cancellation of her student visa in 2022.
Columbia University did not respond to requests for comment by Fox News Digital by the time of publication.
The Justice Department is also investigating whether the university intentionally illegally hid students in the country. Colombian interim president Katrina Armstrong issued a statement on Saturday saying the university “supports its values” but did not directly respond to the DOJ investigation.
