Trump applauds arrest of pro-Hamas grad student as court freezes deportation

Department of Homeland Security: “Khalil led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the news of the arrest of a graduate student at Columbia University who supported Hamas. The president vowed there would be similar arrests in the future, even as a federal judge froze the student’s deportation order.

“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activities, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”

“Many of them are not students; they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country—never to return again,” he wrote.

Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents on Saturday.

Khalil negotiated with the university administration on behalf of anti-Israel campus protesters who set up a tent encampment on the campus lawn last year.

“On March 9, 2025, in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student. Khalil led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

“ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and protecting U.S. national security.”

The Syrian-born student, who completed his undergraduate degree in Lebanon, was a leader in violent anti-Israel protests on campus that involved activists occupying buildings, disrupting classes, and harassing Jewish and Israeli students.

Khalil was reportedly involved in an “unauthorized” march held shortly after the October 7th terror attack, which “glorified” the Hamas-led massacre, according to the New York Post.

Amy Greer, Khalil’s attorney, told the Associated Press that she spoke to ICE officials during his arrest, and they informed her that his student visa was being revoked.

Greer said she told ICE that Khalil now holds permanent residency (a green card) due to his marriage to an American citizen.

An ICE agent responded that his residency would be revoked instead.

On Monday, however, a federal judge, Jesse Furman, ordered that Khalil’s deportation be put on hold to give the court time to assess his appeal.

A hearing is slated for Wednesday at a federal court in Manhattan.