Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a former Columbia University student over his involvement in the pro-Palestine protests that swept the campus over the past year, even though he has a green card and was never charged with a crime. Columbia, the site of a monthslong pro-Palestine encampment, became a particular obsession for right-wingers and liberal Zionists alike, who accused the university of turning a blind eye to campus antisemitism even as it sent the New York Police Department to arrest its own students. This latest arrest signals that the Trump administration is similarly determined to punish protesters â and provides a glimpse into the surveillance tools it will exploit to accomplish that.
Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from the universityâs School of International and Public Affairs last December, was picked up by ICE in his university-owned apartment on March 8, his attorney, Amy Greer, told the Associated Press. Khalilâs arrest came just days after Axios reported that the State Department would be using AI to revoke visas for pro-Palestine student protesters. During the arrest, agents from ICEâs Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) div …
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