Trump Admin Accuses Student Activist Mahmoud Khalil of 'Siding with Terrorists', Deportation Blocked

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Israel-Hamas war is once again at the center of a political firestorm at a major American university.

Protesters are demanding the release of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist who faces deportation for his part in the pro-Palestinian protests on the school's campus last year.

Khalil is in the U.S. on a green card, but the Trump administration says it will soon be revoked because of behavior they believe to be "aligned with Hamas," a designated terror organization.

"Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation's finest universities and colleges and he took advantage of that opportunity and privilege by siding with terrorists," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesday's briefing.

Khalil was one of the most visible campus activists last year, acting as a negotiator for students who erected a tent encampment on Columbia's campus. Now his lawyer says Khalil is being held at a Louisiana detention facility due to President Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism.

"They've invoked this broad, vague immigration authority that in theory, allows, with due process, the removal of someone based on the certification of the Secretary of State, that they're a compromising national security interest. This is a preposterous and dangerous extension of that authority. It was basically meant to remove spies, not individuals engaged in human rights activism," said Baher Azmy, Khalil's attorney.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Khalil's deportation while the case plays out in court.

"His speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they're engaged in," said Azmy.

Still, President Trump says more arrests are coming, writing on Truth Social, "If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here." 

"This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes, and harassed Jewish-American students, and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers with the logo of Hamas," Leavitt said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X, "We will be revoking the Visas and/or Green Cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." 

Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University, tells CBN News that this case brings up the larger question of how much authority we want to put in the hands of the Executive Branch.

"I understand, at some level, we might be sitting here thinking, 'You know, of course we're against someone who espouses support for an organization that we generally do see as terrorists.' But think through what this might mean for another president, from another party, or with a different ideology, who might have a different approach in defining what terrorism or terrorist activity really is. So broadening that amount of power could lead to some really severe abuse," said Dr. Smith.

As Khalil waits for a hearing on Wednesday, his attorney has requested he be returned to New York while the case plays out.