DHS Detains Columbia Student Mahmoud Khalil After Israeli Smear Campaign

New York (Quds News Network)- On Saturday night, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and a key negotiator for pro-Palestine protesters. Agents entered a student residential building in uptown New York and took him into custody.

Drop Site News reported that DHS refused to comment and stated, “You need to reach out to the White House.”

Khalil’s detention follows a two-day online smear campaign by pro-Israel groups and individuals, including Columbia Business School professor Shai Davidai. The Trump administration recently announced plans to revoke visas of anti-genocide student protesters calling them “Hamas sympathizers,” specifically citing Columbia students.

Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian origin and a U.S. green-card holder, was returning home from an iftar when DHS agents confronted him. His wife, who is eight months pregnant, was with him at the time.

According to Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), DHS agents did not present a warrant or official charges. Khalil remains in custody at a DHS facility in New Jersey.

DHS agents reportedly told Khalil that the U.S. State Department had revoked his student visa. WAWOG condemned this, pointing out that Khalil holds a green card, not a visa, and is a lawful permanent resident.

Columbia University acknowledged reports of ICE presence on campus but emphasized that law enforcement needs a judicial warrant to enter non-public areas.

Khalil was actively involved in recent campus protests. On Wednesday, he participated in a sit-in at Barnard College’s Milstein Library, protesting the expulsion of three pro-Palestine students. Police arrested nine protesters at the event.

Online, pro-Israel groups escalated calls for Khalil’s deportation. Prominent accounts tagged officials like President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging action.

Professor Shai Davidai, who was previously barred from Columbia’s Morningside campus, tweeted:

“Illegally taking over a college in which you are not even enrolled and distributing terrorist propaganda should be a deportable offense, no?”

Marco Rubio had also tweeted that supporters of what he described as terrorist organizations “threaten national security” and should face visa revocation and deportation.

The Trump administration has cancelled $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University. The White House claims the university failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment.

Meanwhile, Columbia has reportedly created a secret office investigating students for political statements about Israel. Students must sign non-disclosure agreements to access evidence against them.

Khalil previously said the university threatened to block his graduation over social media posts he did not write. After legal intervention, Columbia dropped its case, but it had already placed a hold on his transcript.