Fourteen House Democrats demanded that the Department of Homeland Security release former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, slamming his detention for campus activism an “act of anti-Palestinian racism.”
Mr. Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who resides in the U.S. on a green card, was arrested Saturday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and slated for deportation over his leadership role in the raucous anti-Israel protests last year that rocked the Columbia campus.
A hearing on his detention was scheduled Wednesday before a federal judge in New York City who previously blocked federal authorities from deporting Mr. Khalil, who earned his master’s degree from Columbia in December.
In a statement, DHS said he was arrested for “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” while the House Democrats described him as a “political prisoner” whose “constitutional rights have been violated.”
“We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country,” the Democrats said in a Tuesday letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Khalil’s arrest is an act of Palestinian racism intended to silence the Palestine solidarity movement in this country, but this lawless abuse of power and political repression is a threat to all Americans,” the letter added. “President Trump has threatened that this is ‘the first arrest of many to come,’ and, if unchecked, this authoritarian playbook will be applied to any and all opposition to his undemocratic agenda.”
The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan, Nydia Velazquez, Delia Ramirez, Ilhan Omar, Jasmine Crockett, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley, Lateefah Simon, Al Green, Gwen Moore, Andre Carson, Nikema Williams and James McGovern.
I’m joining 13 of my colleagues to demand that the Trump Administration immediately releases Mahmoud Khalil. Their illegal actions set a dangerous precedent. We cannot allow them to shred our constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Free Mahmoud Khalil. pic.twitter.com/G9YxBeDZvh
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) March 11, 2025
Several of the members are part of the House’s left-wing Squad, including Ms. Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress.
“I’m joining 13 of my colleagues to demand that the Trump Administration immediately releases Mahmoud Khalil,” Ms. Tlaib posted on X. “Their illegal actions set a dangerous precedent. We cannot allow them to shred our constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Free Mahmoud Khalil.”
Leftists were disappointed that the letter garnered only 14 signatures.
“Why did so few of them sign this important letter?” asked The Nation, a left-wing publication.
Mr. Khalil served as lead negotiator for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a sprawling tent city erected on the Columbia campus by pro-Palestinian activists that was removed by police in April.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back on the free-speech argument in remarks to reporters Wednesday during a stop at Shannon Airport in Ireland.
“When you come to the United States as a visitor – which is what a visa is, which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor’s visa – you are here as a visitor,” he said. “We can deny you that visa. This is not about free speech. This is about people who don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.”
