Trump’s Attempt to Deport a Lawful Permanent Resident Prompts Legal Questions

The arrest of a Columbia University graduate over the weekend has prompted fierce backlash as President Donald Trump moves to punish pro-Palestinian protesters at colleges and universities by raising the specter of deportation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Saturday arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a December graduate with a master’s degree from the university’s School of International and Public Affairs, after he helped lead campus demonstrations last year protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza since the start of the war against Hamas.

Such protests spread to college campuses nationwide, but they were particularly virulent at Columbia, where in-person classes were canceled, students took over an administrative building and police were called in to clear their encampment. Jewish students complained of feeling threatened and ostracized, and reports of antisemitic language and imagery were widespread.

Khalil, who remains at risk of deportation even though his removal was initially blocked by a federal judge, holds a green card and is married to an American citizen, according to The New York Times. The same judge on Wednesday ruled that Khalil will remain at a Louisiana detention center temporarily as he weighs arguments.