Mahmud Halil is a Palestinian-born academic activist and civil society advocate. Columbia University, where he received advanced bachelor's degree training, played a central role in his involvement in pro-Palestinian student movements. In 2024, he emerged as one of the negotiators during Gaza protests at Columbia University. On 9 March 2025, he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of the Trump administration’s campaign of pressure against pro-Palestinian student activists.
(Mahmud Halil - Columbia Daily Spectator)
The Trump administration announced this arrest as the first step in a broader operation targeting pro-Palestinian demonstrators in target areas. Halil’s detention has sparked important debates regarding freedom of expression, migration policies, and political repression in academic institutions.
Mahmud Halil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria to a family of Palestinian refugees, part of the generations displaced from Palestinian territories.
After completing his undergraduate studies, he worked at the British Embassy in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, before moving to the United States for graduate education. He earned a master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). There, he actively participated in student groups advocating for social responsibility policies. He graduated in 2024.
In 2023, Mahmud Halil became a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a student coalition demanding that the university divest from companies linked to Israel.
As attacks on Gaza intensified during 2023–2024, protests erupted at Columbia University. Halil served as a negotiator during these demonstrations, participating in dialogue processes between the university administration and student activists.
Students established tent encampments on campus, organized protest marches, and held various events. Halil also participated in sit-in demonstrations at Barnard College’s Milstein Center.
On 9 March 2025, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arrested Mahmud Halil at his residence in a Columbia University student dormitory in New York.
According to Halil’s attorney Amy Greer, ICE agents stated they detained him to initiate the cancellation of his student visa. When it was discovered that Halil held a U.S. permanent residency card (green card), ICE officials then informed him that his green card had been revoked. During this process, ICE agents threatened to arrest Halil’s American wife, who is eight months pregnant.
Halil’s family and legal team received reports that he had been taken to the Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey. However, when his family visited the facility, they found he was not there. It was later confirmed that Halil had been transferred to the Jena ICE Processing Center in Louisiana. His attorneys argue that ICE deliberately transfers detainees away from their families and legal counsel to obstruct their defense.
Halil’s attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of his detention and requesting his release. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman temporarily halted his deportation.
On 19 March 2025, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rejected the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the case and issued a temporary injunction against Halil’s deportation. Furman noted that Halil’s constitutional rights may have been violated during his arrest and ordered the case transferred from Louisiana to New Jersey, ruling that the final determination of Halil’s legal status must be made by New Jersey courts.
Halil’s attorney Samah Sisay stated that he was initially taken to a federal building in Manhattan, then transferred to a detention center in New Jersey, but official records showed his presence only in Manhattan, indicating the process was conducted unlawfully. Sisay alleged that the Trump administration moved Halil to Louisiana to prevent his case from being heard in New York or New Jersey.
Sisay stated, "Halil must be released and allowed to remain at home with his wife as they await the birth of their first child, and we will continue doing everything in our power to make this happen."
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Halil’s arrest was the first step in a broader campaign against pro-Palestinian student activists. Trump labeled Halil a "Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student" and announced that similar arrests would continue.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) assessed Halil’s detention as a threat to freedom of expression. New York Attorney General Letitia James expressed concern over his arrest.
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated that the federal government’s arrest of a green card holder without legal justification poses a threat to all U.S. citizens. Protests demanding Halil’s release were held at the federal building in New York City.
Following Halil’s arrest, the Trump administration imposed economic sanctions on Columbia University, canceling $400 million in federal funding.
On 16 March, demonstrations calling for Halil’s release were held in Washington DC and New York. In Washington, protesters gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters holding signs reading "Free Palestine", "Release Mahmud Halil", and "ICE Out of Our Campuses". Demonstrators chanted, "Justice we want, you say how? Release Mahmud Halil now!"
Protests demanding the release of Mahmud Halil in New York, 16 March 2025 – Anadolu Agency
In New York, hundreds marched from Times Square to Columbus Circle. Protesters carrying Palestinian flags declared, "These attacks are not just against Mahmud Halil. They are an attack on anyone who speaks up for justice." They emphasized that the right to protest is protected under law for Palestinian activists.
On 18 March, Jewish academic groups in the Boston region launched a petition campaign calling for Halil’s release. The group "Concerned Jewish Faculty Members – Boston Region", composed of faculty, staff, and students from Harvard and the Massachusetts Technology Institute (MIT), issued a statement condemning pressure on Palestinian activists. The statement read, "We hold differing views, but we denounce those who use our names to harass, expel, detain, or deport members of our campus communities."
Protests demanding the release of Mahmud Halil in Boston, 18 March 2025 – Anadolu Agency
The statement, backed by approximately two thousand individuals, accused President Donald Trump of manipulating anti-Jewish sentiment to consolidate political power, and emphasized that Halil’s arrest constitutes a threat to democratic norms in universities. The statement urged universities to mobilize resources to support Palestinian students and called on federal immigration authorities and pro-Israel organizations to cease collaboration.
Early Life and Education
Activism and Columbia University Protests
Arrest and Legal Proceedings
Detention by ICE
Legal Challenge and Court Proceedings
Reactions to the Arrest