You haven’t heard much from anti-Israel campus agitator Mahmoud Khalil lately, and there may be a reason for that. He wants to stay in the U.S., and this time around a tad less visibility helps him. Not that he’s become a wallflower. He’s just more selective in where he shows up right now.
Given all that happens and is forgotten from one news cycle to the next, here’s a little refresher on the ungrateful non-American who made his name last year preaching hate on the campus of Columbia University.
On March 8 of this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Khalil at his New York City apartment, and then took him to a detention center in Louisiana as part of the formal deportation process.
Kahlil is not an American citizen. He was born in the mid-1990s at a refugee camp in Syria. His parents are described as Palestinian and Algerian, so he has citizenship in Algeria. Before coming to America, he had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and then applied for admission into Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In December of 2024, he received his master of public administration degree.
According to all reports, he is a green-card holder and thus a legal resident of the United States who also happens to be married to a U.S. citizen. So far, he’s been careful to check all of the boxes, right?
In the spring of 2024, a few months before he graduated from Columbia, those inorganic “pro-Palestine protests” started to erupt almost simultaneously on campuses across the country.
Columbia became the site of some of the most contentious activity, and Kahlil was at the heart of it all. In April of that year, the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” set itself up on the East Butler Lawn and refused to budge. On April 29, an intimidating group of students, and possibly some non-students, occupied Hamilton Hall on campus. They stayed there for 24 hours until New York City police cleared them out.
There were further actions in the fall but not as large or as disorderly as those in the spring. A group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the organizer of the campus disruptions, designated Kahlil as its spokesperson and chief negotiator. Or did he elect himself? It’s unclear.
He was, in effect, the ringleader. As is often the case with people like this, you wouldn’t find him risking his safety or anything else by joining the group in its “direct actions,” like taking over Hamilton Hall. I think Barack Obama called this “leading from behind.”
Kahlil was the one who served as the negotiator between the mob and the school’s administration. Since the situation received an extensive amount of global media coverage, Kahlil become the face of the student anti-Israel movement.
What type of negotiator was he? His critics described him as ginning up the mob to the extent it intimidated and terrorized Jewish students, in particular. Some have used words like “antisemite” to describe him.
This is Syrian National Mahmoud Khalil’s work at Columbia—leading a group that violently broke into a building, trashed it, took a janitor hostage, and caused hundreds of thousands in damages.
It’s all on camera. This isn’t about free speech. pic.twitter.com/n3u69g31ER
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 11, 2025
Needless to say, he caught the attention of the incoming Trump administration, and so by March 8 he was arrested and held in detention for 104 days before a judge ordered he be released pending his legal proceedings.
Kahlil says he was just exercising his free speech rights, but the Trump administration, through Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has said the Kahlil situation is about much more than speech. It’s about terrorizing Jewish students, putting their safety at risk, and national security. Rubio has said repeatedly that as a green-card holder, Kahlil is not entitled to remain in a country if he poses a danger or a threat to actual American citizens.
Despite what his lawyers and family claim, Mahmoud Khalil isn’t the innocent figure. — April 2024, he orchestrated violent occupation protests, seizing control at Columbia University.
Sec.State Rubio emphasizes this isn’t about free speech—it’s a matter of national security. pic.twitter.com/rFYl9Vc5ui
— April Color (@ColorApril) March 16, 2025
When given the chance to present his case to CNN, he refused to condemn Hamas, a terrorist organization.
As if we needed more proof that Mahmoud Khalil is a terror sympathizer. Here he is, refusing to condemn Hamas over and over. Instead, he justifies their actions and claims it wouldn’t lead to a ‘constructive conversation’ to talk about their atrocities. pic.twitter.com/ItRoOkq7Ih
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) July 23, 2025
In June 2025 Kahlil was released on bail. In September, an immigration judge issued a deportation order on the basis that Kahil allegedly misrepresented certain information on his green card application. Kahlil is now appealing.
Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from Kahlil’s lawyers, who contend all of this is simply a First Amendment issue and that Kahlil was only exercising his protected right to free speech and thus should not be deported.
The Trump administration wants to move forward as quickly as possible with the appeals process, and that is what’s happening.
OMfrickin’ gosh…Mahmoud Khalil is complaining to a federal district court judge that the Board of Immigration appeals is hearing HIS appeal too quickly. Congress expressly removed jurisdiction from district court over immigration appeals. This. Is. Nutso! pic.twitter.com/rbi1CJXdfZ
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) October 29, 2025
Kahlil and his lawyers are now upset with how quickly the Board of Immigration Appeals is moving. In a letter to the court, the lawyers say that such appeals usually take six months, “if not years, to produce transcripts of the underlying proceeding, and issue a briefing schedule.”
I’m no lawyer, but this looks like the attorneys don’t want a prompt and efficient hearing of their case. Do they really need that time to prepare, or is this a stalling tactic to get the public and the courts to forget about Mahmoud until he has a brood of American-born kids, and they try to say he’s practically an American citizen by then?
The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this. Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
