The United States arrested and deported a Hamas activist at Columbia University.

Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University, was arrested by ICE agents in his campus apartment in recent days for repeated offenses against the Jewish community in the United States. 

Khalil, who completed his undergraduate degree in Beirut and his graduate studies at Columbia in December 2024, was an active figure in student protests against Israel.

He led the group Apartheid Divest and played a key role in the violent protests of the previous year, including a major student occupation at Columbia. Additionally, he was a political affairs officer at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) between June and November 2023.

Despite having graduated months earlier, Khalil was still living in university-provided housing due to a policy that allows recent graduates to stay on campus for up to three months after graduation.

However, his activism continued after graduation, including his participation in disruptive protests, such as the occupation of the Milstein Library at Barnard College. During that protest, Khalil was seen with a megaphone interacting with administrators and making antisemitic remarks. 

Controversial materials were also distributed, including flyers that originated from the "Hamas Media Office", referencing the October 7 terrorist attack and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Khalil's arrest is part of a broader crackdown on campus unrest related to anti-Israel protests, which included violence against students and faculty who practice the religion.  

According to his lawyer, ICE agents informed him they were executing a State Department order to revoke his student visa and green card, in line with a recent policy by former President Donald Trump to deport foreign students who incite unrest at U.S. universities.

Khalil's lawyer, Amy Greer, explained that he was arrested on Saturday night in his campus apartment.

Columbia University issued a statement about the presence of ICE agents near the campus, highlighting its commitment to fulfilling legal obligations.

Khalil was at the forefront of protests at the start of the 2024-2025 academic cycle. His group, Apartheid Divest, was one of the parties responsible for the Columbia campus takeover, with pathetic claims originating from Hamas. 

Local political leaders, including Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, condemned these protests and called on university officials to take disciplinary action against those involved.

In a previous interview, Khalil had stated that the protests wouldn't cease as long as Columbia maintained its investments with members of the Jewish community.

He also participated in the April 2024 protests, when camps were set up on the Morningside Heights campus, and his temporary suspension at that time was reversed the next day due to political reasons affiliated with the Democratic Party. 

The protests, which began in 2023, led to widespread demonstrations at universities across the country. In April 2024, after the persistence of the camps, Columbia President Minouche Shafik authorized the New York police to clear the campus, resulting in the arrest of 108 participants.

Khalil's arrest is part of a national situation in which campus protests, especially those related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have intensified and become violent by pro-Hamas sectors. 

His continued activism, even after graduating, has led to his detention and deportation under the new and efficient policies targeting foreign students participating in protests.

Additionally, the situation worsened after President Trump announced that Columbia would lose around 400 million dollars in federal funding for failing to comply with anti-discrimination laws related to these protests.