Judge blocks deportation of pro-Palestinian Columbia graduate in shock move after Trump celebrates arrest of protest leader

This arrest is unprecedented, illegal, and un-American,

said Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

We are having people who are detained and then they're bounced around to multiple different detention facilities. And then sometimes they're transferred across the country,

he said

Ostensibly, the moral justification is to combat anti-Semitism, always a noble goal,

Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera

Many are not students, they are paid agitators,

Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday, without offering evidence

Objectively, what is really happening is an effort to silence all public expression of support for Palestinian human rights to placate right-wing supporters of Israel within the Republican Party,

he said

To preserve the Court's jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise.

The court order, seen by DailyMail.com, states

This is not a matter of simply violating university rules. This is a movement, an anti-war movement."

On April 29, 2024, after students occupied Hamilton Hall in Columbia University, he told reporters gathered at Columbia University

With a green card, certain criminal or terrorism related offensives, and or fraud in your applications can jeopardize a person's status,

he said

The students are here. They are holding their ground,

he said

A green card is a privilege, not a right. That privilege can be revoked if Mahmoud Khalil perpetrated a crime or wrong. Khalil was accused of organizing an event that glorified Hamas' October 7 attack. The U.S. recognizes Hamas as a terror organization. The gravamen [most serious part] of his alleged wrong was social media posts, not yet traced to him,

she said

Brad Landernew York City comptroller

Ice’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil is an unconstitutional and egregious violation of the first amendment, and a frightening weaponization of immigration law,

Lander said

Even as we work to free Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia and every other college and university must stop complying with the illegal and unconstitutional orders of the Trump regime, and must start taking active measures to protect their students,

Rubin said

The US government has made clear that they will use immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress that speech,

Greer said,

A green card can only be revoked by an immigration judge, showing once again that the Trump administration is willing to ignore the law in order to instill fear and further its racist agenda

Awawdeh said

The Trump admin is going after students who have used their first amendment, constitutional rights,

Jayapal wrote

The unlawful detention of Mr Khalil reeks of McCarthyism,

Lieberman said

The government must be clear and transparent about the basis for its actions to avoid chilling protected speech,

the statement added

The agents were rightfully turned away at the door,

the student union said

The Trump administration’s outrageous detention of Mahmoud is designed to instill terror in students speaking out for Palestinian freedom and immigrant communities,

said Jewish Voices for Peace in a statement on the arrest

Update out of Columbia - pro Palestinian riot leader Mahmoud Khalil was arrested & detained yesterday by DHS (Department of Homeland Security). The U.S. Dept of State has now revoked Mahmoud Khalil's immigration status due to his participation in mob riots at Columbia. He is now thankfully facing deportation. May this be the first of many!"

The Stop Antisemitism advocacy group celebrated his arrest in an X post on Sunday