Video Shows ICE’s Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil
New York (Quds News Network)- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a video on Friday showing ICE agents arresting Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil last weekend over his pro-Palestine activism.
On March 8, Khalil who is a permanent resident of the US, was detained by the ICE agents when he arrived at his home at a student resident facility with his pregnant wife over his activism as he played a key role in pro-Palestine and anti-genocide demonstrations on campus. He acted as a negotiator with university officials during protests for Palestine in the spring of 2024. The Trump administration has moved to revoke Khalil’s green card.
The video, which was taken by Khalil’s wife Noor Abdalla, shows ICE agents handcuffing him and leading him out of his university-owned apartment. Abdalla then calls his lawyer and follows the agents outside.
“He’s not resisting,” his wife said as she watched plain-clothed ICE agents handcuff Khalil in the lobby of their apartment building.
“You guys really don’t need to be doing all of that,” she added.
At one point during the video, Abdalla can be heard asking one of the arresting agents which agency was arresting her husband, but she did not appear to get a response.
“Nobody is talking to me,” she said.
Abdalla asked an agent to provide their names to give to her attorney but the agent refused.
“We don’t give our name,” one agent is heard saying.
Seeing how Mahmoud Khalil was detained is unreal.
A guy wearing an Avengers shirt from an unnamed agency says “we have you,” they refuse to give their names and it seems he has no rights to be read while being arrested, all while his pregnant wife watches.pic.twitter.com/fPJnbz4okW
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 14, 2025
His wife called his arrest “the most terrifying moment of my life” in a statement following the release of the video Friday.
“This felt like a kidnapping because it was: Officers in plainclothes — who refused to show us a warrant, speak with our attorney, or even tell us their names — forced my husband into an unmarked car and took him away from me,” she said.
“For the next 38 hours after this video, neither I or our lawyers knew where Mahmoud was being held. Now, he’s over 1,000 miles from home, still being wrongfully detained by US immigration.”
On Monday, US District Judge Jesse Furman temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation. On Wednesday, the judge extended that prohibition in a written order – following a hearing in New York’s Manhattan federal court – to allow himself more time to consider whether the student’s arrest was unconstitutional.
Khalil’s lawyers said his arrest outside his university residence in Manhattan was in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel’s assault on Gaza, and thus violated Khalil’s right to free speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
“Mr Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights,” Khalil’s lawyer Ramzi Kassem said in court on Wednesday.
On Monday, in a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump described the arrest of Khalil as “the first arrest of many to come”.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said.
Officials from Trump’s administration have said Khalil was detained for his purported support of Hamas. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused him of distributing “pro-Hamas propaganda.”
“As we are all, sadly, all too familiar at this point, the White House makes a lot of claims, many, if not, most of which are unsubstantiated about all kinds of subjects. This is no exception,” Kassem said.
“They have not introduced any flyers in court,” he said. “The reality is that Mr. Khalil completely and vehemently denies doing anything like that, distributing any flyers like that, he has absolutely no connections to Hamas whatsoever.”
Khalil is set to appear before an immigration judge on March 27.
When asked for comment on the video, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told The Hill in a statement, “It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America.”
“When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and should not be in this country,” McLaughlin claimed.
“Throughout this process, Mr. Khalil felt as though he was being kidnapped. He was reminded of prior experience fleeing arbitrary detention in Syria and forced disappearance of his friends in Syria in 2013,” Khalil’s lawyers wrote in court filings Friday.
“It was shortly after this that Mr. Khalil left Syria. At no time throughout this process did any of the agents identify themselves.”
More than 100 House Democrats sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation for Khalil’s arrest.
