U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified its operations, expanding its reach to include green card and visa holders as part of a stringent policy enacted by the Trump administration.
According to The Daily Beast, these actions follow statements made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who expressed his intent to deport anyone in the U.S. “supporting Hamas.”
On X (formerly Twitter), Rubio stated on Sunday: “We will revoke the visas and/or green cards of Hamas sympathizers in the U.S. to facilitate their removal,” The Daily Beast reports. Shortly after, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian-born U.S. permanent resident, was apprehended by ICE agents. Khalil, who led student protests at Columbia University last year, was arrested at his university residence.
Amy Greer, Khalil’s attorney, told ABC News that ICE agents initially justified the arrest by citing the cancellation of her client’s student visa. However, she pointed out that Khalil holds legal permanent residency in the U.S.
When Greer sought clarification, the agents abruptly ended the conversation, The Daily Beast notes.
Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), defended the arrest as being “in line with Trump’s executive orders against antisemitism,” according to The Daily Beast. She claimed that Khalil was “engaged in activities linked to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
Khalil had previously organized a protest encampment on Columbia’s campus. However, The Daily Beast reports that he did not participate in the occupation of a university building that led to multiple arrests.
The Trump administration argues that this policy is a necessary national security measure. On X, Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller emphasized that the U.S. has “absolute sovereign control” over its borders and that “entry into the U.S. is an extraordinary privilege, not an inherent right.”
Attorney Greer condemned the move as a “clear crackdown on student activism and political free speech.” She also revealed that she lost contact with her client after his arrest. According to available information, Khalil was transferred from an ICE detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to another facility, possibly in Louisiana, The Daily Beast reports.
Khalil’s wife, who is a U.S. citizen and currently pregnant, has been desperately trying to locate him without success. Meanwhile, his legal team has filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of his detention.
His arrest comes as Donald Trump recently announced sweeping measures on Truth Social against what he calls “illegal” protests, threatening to cut federal funding to universities that allow them and vowing to deport or imprison foreign students involved.
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to The Daily Beast’s requests for comment regarding these new deportation directives.
