Mahmoud Khalil-Pro-Palestinian Activist and Green Card Holder held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week-said he heard a federal agent said that the White House asked for an update about his detention, his lawyer said.
“He is surrounded by many DHS agents, or people he believes as DHS agents, and he believes that he sees or hears, during the call, one of them says that the White House wants a reform about what happened,” said Samu Sisay, a staff lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights representing Khalil, told the Friday press conference.
“We have a reason to believe, as we thought in the petition, that many people in the government executive branch were involved, including the White House,” Sisay said.
Khalil took part in the protest of students at Columbia University who called for institutions to release and decide on relations with Israel, and he participated in negotiations with university administration.
“The goal is that it is to make Columbia University release from its involvement with Israeli government crimes in Gaza and the West Bank,” said Ramzi Kassem, Director of Clear, a group representing Khalil.
Someone holds a placard, in front of the hearing on the detention of Palestinian activists and Postgraduate Students of Columbia University Mahmoud Khalil, in New York City, March 12, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
The White House and Columbia University did not immediately respond to ABC News comments requests.
Columbia University said in a statement on Thursday, “We will continue to work to support our community, including protecting our students’ privacy, during this challenging time and we remain firmly committed to our values and missions.”
Trump’s government has claimed that Khalil distributed “pro-propaganda leaflets with the Hamas logo,” without providing evidence.
“I have a leaflet on my desk, they were given to me by the Department of Domestic Security,” said the Press Secretary of the White House Karoline Leavitt.
“All the talk about the leaflet is only nonsense, there is no truth,” Kassem said.
Lawyer Khalil said their direction about motion to force the government to return Khalil to New York must be completed at the beginning of next week. His lawyer hopes that the judge will make a decision next week.
“Mahmoud was moved across various state lines and was then transferred to a remote prison in Louisiana a few hours after submitting a Habeas petition, a deliberate action and retaliation and efforts to disturb the New York Court jurisdiction,” Sisay said.
In weeks before his arrest, Khalil said he was afraid of his safety when he and other Columbia University students who advocated the rights of Palestinians experienced an increase in doxing and harassment, his lawyer said.
The demonstrators supported Mahmoud Khalil outside the Thurgood Marshall court building, during the hearing on the arrest of Khalil, in New York City, March 12, 2025.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
“It’s like an almost daily occurrence where twitter, social media posts showing photographs of students, identifying where they’re located, where they live, who they’re associated with, while tagging ice, while tagging dhs, while tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging, tagging The Secretary of State, “Amy Greer, An Attorney with Dratel & Lewis who represented Khalil, said Friday.
“He was really afraid that what happened to him would happen to others,” Greer said.
Lawyer Khalil accused Trump’s administration of replied to Khalil for protests and activism in supporting Palestinians who argued that his speech was protected by the first amendment.
“Trump’s government took an extensive and non -constitutional view of how material support for terrorism laws applies in this context,” Brian Hauss, a senior staff lawyer at ACLU, told a press conference.
Mahmoud Khalil spoke to media members about the rebellion for the Rafah Campsite at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Islamic group in Gaza, in New York City, US US, June 1, 2024.
Jeenah Moon/Reuters
“The Supreme Court is very clear in the case called the legal project holder vs Humanity that federal material supports terrorism law does not apply to independent advocacy, even when the advocacy explicitly supports terrorist organizations appointed by foreigners, saying a statement that says, ‘I support Hamas,’ if the statement is not coordinated with the terrorist organization appointed by the foreigner.
The first amendment also protects the freedom of speech of individuals who are not American citizens, said Hauss. Khalil is a permanent population
“Trump’s administration punished Mr. Khalil for his speech about Palestine. It silenced him, and that made him an example to cool millions of green and non-citizen card holders throughout the country to say anything that might attract the anger of President Trump. That was the first textbook for Amendment,” said Hauss.
State Secretary Marco Rubio said on Sunday at X that the department “would revoke a visa and/or green card supporting Hamas in America so that they could be deported.”
Khalil’s lawyer denied that Khalil had a bond with Hamas and said his activation had supported Palestinian rights.
Hauss added, “If administration can do this to Mr. Khalil because of his speech about Palestine, it can do it to any non-citizen of the country who take positions on a hot global problem, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, the tariff imposed on US allies, or the rise of the rightmost political parties in Europe.”
DHS spokesman Tricia McLaughlin said Khalil was arrested by ICE “to support President Trump’s executive order for prohibiting anti-Semitism.”
“Khalil led the activity that was in harmony with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” Mclaughlin said in a statement on Sunday night.