Second Pro-Palestinian Protestor Arrested by Immigration at Columbia University

Second Arrest and Deportation

• 🎯 A Palestinian woman from the West Bank, who allegedly overstayed her student visa, was arrested by federal immigration agents on Thursday.
• ⚠️ The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated her student visa expired in January 2022, and Columbia University has no record of her being a student.
• ✈️ Another woman, an Indian doctoral student, reportedly self-deported after using a DHS app, with DHS claiming her protest activities supported Hamas.

Mahmud Khalil's Legal Situation

• ⚖️ Mahmud Khalil, a legal resident with a green card and a Columbia graduate, is being held in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana without being charged.
• ✊ His attorneys are fighting for his release, calling his detention unconstitutional and a violation of his First Amendment rights.
• 👶 They are also seeking his release on bail, highlighting that he is missing the birth of his child as his wife is eight months pregnant.
• 🗣️ Attorneys argue that Khalil was never arrested during protests and that accusations of supporting Hamas are unsubstantiated.

University Response and Protests

• 🚶‍♀️ Protests occurred at Columbia University demanding Khalil's release and denouncing the targeting of students by ICE.
• 🏫 The university's interim president stated that DHS agents conducted a search with judicially signed warrants within university grounds, possibly looking for students or evidence.
• 📢 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released footage of Mahmud Khalil's arrest.