The arrest of a controversial Colombia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, who played a major role in organizing pro -milk protests on the IVY League campus last year, and raised concerns about protecting freedom of expression in the United States.

Khalil, a 29-year-old Palestinian student, was arrested from his university residence in the Upper Manhattan in New York during the weekend by immigration and customs enforcement agents (ICE), who said they will cancel his permanent residence-popularly known as a green card-at the request of the Ministry of State. Although there is no federal charges against Khalil.

On Monday, President Donald Trump wrote on his social platform for the truth, describing Khalil as “a foreign student in support of foreigners.”

In his first week of the presidency, Trump pledged to deport students who joined the protests against the Israeli war on Gaza, which swept American universities last year. Students demanded universities to strip the companies associated with Israel and a ceasefire to end the war that killed more than 61,000, according to the government media office in the Gaza Strip.

Trump also threatened to stop the federal funding of schools, colleges and universities if they allow what he called “illegal protests.” Days before Khalil was arrested, Trump has avoided $ 400 million in the Federal Federal Federal Federal Federation.

Therefore, can a green card be canceled? What kind of protection does its holders enjoy? How does this fit with the broader context of students’ protests in the United States and freedom of expression?

Who is Mahmoud Khalil?

Khalil worked as a major negotiator for the pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Colombia-a role asking him to speak to university officials and the media. Before his arrest on Saturday, Khalil told Reuters that he was concerned about his targeting by the government to speak to the press.

“It is clear that Trump uses the demonstrators as a scapegoat for his wider schedule [of] He told Reuters: “Control of higher education and attacking the higher education system.”

Khalil Amy Jarir’s lawyer told Time magazine that her client was targeting his political activity and opposition to Israeli policies. She added that Khalil did not commit any crime or violated the conditions of his residence.

In media interviews, Khalil said that his activity has no place to hostile to the Semites.

“As a Palestinian student, I think the liberation of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people are intertwined and they go manually, and you cannot achieve one without the other.”

He said: “I always say that we are the lucky ones who made us here talk about our people who are subject to persecution in Palestine and through the refugee camps and Palestinian cities.”

Khalil completed a master’s degree from the College of International and Public Affairs in Colombia in December 2024.

He got a green card last year. His wife, who is an American citizen, is pregnant eight.

The Palestinian student was born and raised in Syria, where his ancestors moved after the flight of Tiberia, now in the current Israel. More than 750,000 Palestinians were cleared by the Jewish militias in the period before the birth of Israel in 1948. The Palestinians remember their expulsion from their homeland, such as Nakba, the catastrophe.

He joined the Lebanese American University and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, according to his personal file in LinkedIn.

Khalil previously worked at the British embassy in Beirut from 2018 to 2022, according to Al Ain Middle East. The local director of the Syrian Grant Cheving, a prestigious UK government plan.

Can the United States deport Khalil?

Yes, but it will face legal challenges. Despite reference to it as permanent residents and have similar rights to American citizens, green card holders do not fully count the deportation, and their situation can be canceled for certain limited circumstances, according to Al -Jazeera experts.

These conditions include crimes, engaging in fraud, or considering them a threat to national security – and even then, a person may challenge deportation orders in court.

However, political speech is not a good cause of cancellation, Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of Democracy in the Arab world now said.

She said: “Green card holders have the right to obtain the same protection as the first amendment, as American citizens.” Whittson said that Khalil’s arrest is “a clear effort to silence all the speech to support Palestinian rights.”

In the Khalil case, the burden of proof with the government is located to demonstrate that he violated the laws of American immigration and that it pose a threat to national security.

Zaha Hassan, a human rights lawyer, said that Khalil “is distinguished by the opinions he carries.”

“This would violate his right to freedom of expression.”

Hassan said that the Trump administration appears to be arguing that Khalil’s participation in the protests and his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza promotes Hamas’s support, which was appointed as a terrorist organization.

She said: “The court will have to decide whether the speech that supports Palestinian freedom and human rights is the same as the support of terrorism under the laws of the immigration concerned.”

A federal court temporarily prevented Khalil’s deportation. The next session is scheduled for Wednesday.

Jenin Younis, civil freedoms and freedom of expression, said that the government appears to be claiming that Khalil is a threat to national security “for somewhat mysterious reasons: that the government has a policy that is to combat anti -Somite hostility around the world, and the protests in Colombia that Khalil helped organize to enhance the anti -sentral environment.”

Trump’s executive orders are designed to target the alleged anti -Semitism on the campus of universities and even created a working group to combat allegedly anti -Semitic speech, which activists say was used to target Israeli critics.

Yunus explained that this speech includes “different types of criticism of the State of Israel.”

Khalil publicly did not say anything that would support such charges against him.

Yunus said that since Khalil was not accused, not to mention his condemnation, a crime, “could not be a reasons for his deportation.”

What protection is green cards and foreign students?

While holders of green cards have more rights than visa owners, they are not protected like American citizens.

They can work and live permanently in the United States, but some legal violations or government decisions can lead to deportation procedures.

Hassan said: “It seems that the Trump administration is testing the water to see to what extent they can go in short civil freedoms,” Hassan said. “Immigrants and weak groups that were the subject of discrimination and prejudice are easy goals in such cases.”

Foreign students, who usually hold F-1 visas, have fewer protection. They must adhere to the rules of strict immigration, including the limits of political activity.

Hassan said: “There were reports that the administration intends to spread artificial intelligence technology to scan social media accounts for foreign students.” “This would facilitate management intention to go after more individuals.”

What is exactly the accused Khalil?

We do not know. The accurate charges against him remain unclear, but American internal security officials suggested that his activity may be a source of concern for national security, although there is no clear evidence.

The Ministry of Internal Security said that “Khalil’s activities are leading alignment activities with Hamas,” but it was not interested in committing a crime. Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said that the Trump administration “will cancel visas and/or green cards for Hamas supporters in America so that they can be deported.” However, the authorities have not yet provided evidence that Khalil was a supporter of Hamas.

Khalil is held at the ice treatment center in Louisiana in the center of Louisiana, Gina, who suggests Yunus to be a deliberate step by the government to separate him from his family as a “emotional break”.

I think the government conveyed it to reach more conservative [favourable] Immigration judge. She said it makes him more difficult to cooperate with his lawyer, “who are in the New York and New Jersey.

Gina is about 2,187 km (1,359 miles) south of New York.

The accusations of anti -Semitism in Colombia

The camps established by the demonstrators on the campus of Colombia last year became a center for a campaign at the country level at American universities demanding Washington to stop its unconditional support for Israel, amid the devastating war on Gaza.

The protests resulted in collective arrests and the suspension of students, which end with the resignation of the President of the University, Minche Shavek, after several months.

The protests faced allegations of anti -Semitism, but rights groups argue that these allegations are used to suppress the criticism of Israeli policies.

The protests focused on condemning the military measures of Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip and called for the disposal of companies related to the illegal Israeli settlements that violate the Palestinian territories. Students demanded to cut university financial relations with organizations related to the Israeli government and the defense industry.

Since the arrest of Khalil, the movement has turned into demands for his release. People have Protests similar In New York, he is required to release him.

More than 2.7 million people Fell A petition demands the release of Khalil.

Is it an attack on freedom of expression?

Khalil’s detention also raises serious ethical concerns about the limits of freedom of expression and the role of universities when it comes to protecting her employees and students.

Activists as well as media were anxious because they see the campaign as an attack on protecting the first amendment of freedom of expression.

The result of the Khalil issue can be determined by an important precedent for other international students who participate in the protests.

Yunus said that if the United States government is ultimately successful in its mission to deport Khalil, this is “a harbinger of the authoritarian campaign unprecedented on political discourse.”

Wittson said that his arrest had already created “a chilling effect on the university campus,” Witzon said, and he harmed the countless students whose rights violated.

“Universities have an obligation to ensure freedom of expression, freedom of protest and academic freedom,” she added.

“They must condemn the Trump administration sanctions against universities, allow students and academics to speak and protest according to their beliefs, and to ban non -campus police from any role in the ongoing protests.”

The American Congress, Rashida Tleb, called for an immediate release from Khalil.

A. Open message It was signed by 13 legislators, including tlaiii.

“The arrest of Khalil is an act of the anti -Palestinian racism that aims to silence the Palestinian Solidarity Movement in this country, but this abuse that power and political repression cannot pose a threat to all Americans.”