Mahmoud Khalil, the accused ringleader of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, denied all allegations brought against him during a court hearing on Tuesday as the Trump administration moves to deport the outspoken anti-Israel agitator.
On Tuesday, Khalil met at the LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana, with his team of attorneys as the government pursues his deportation due to his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year. He is currently detained at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, located four hours from New Orleans.
About 35 people attended the hearing, including his wife, Noor Abdalla. Six wore pro-Palestinian scarves. As it ended, Khalil nodded toward them.
The Department of Homeland Security has until 6 p.m. Wednesday to submit evidence supporting his removability ahead of his next hearing, which is scheduled for Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m.
PALESTINIAN PROTESTER MAHMOUD KHALIL EXCORIATES COLUMBIA IN OP-ED
Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil talks to the press during a briefing organized by pro-Palestinian protesters who set up an encampment at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus on Friday evening, in New York City, United States on June 1, 2024. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE last month for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian protests that erupted at Columbia.
A judge recently ruled that his hearing will take place in New Jersey, rather than where he is being held in Louisiana. Khalil’s attorney alleged that federal prosecutors transferred the graduate’s case to a Louisiana court, aiming to increase their chances of a favorable ruling from judges there.
Baher Amzy, attorney for Mahmoud Khalil, speaks to members of the media outside of the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse in New York, US, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The hearing came on the heels of Khalil’s blistering op-ed published in the school’s newspaper on Friday. The op-ed, titled simply “A letter to Columbia,” accused the institution of “laying the groundwork for my abduction.”
He went on to compare President Donald Trump’s crackdown on anti-Israel protesters to Columbia’s own apathy toward Palestinians, listing other students who have been “snatched by the state.”
VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL
“The situation is oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and sought refuge in Lebanon,” Khalil wrote. “The logic used by the federal government to target myself and my peers is a direct extension of Columbia’s repression playbook concerning Palestine.”
WATCH: Mahmoud Khalil makes ‘preposterous’ accusation in op-ed
He went on to accuse Columbia administrators of manufacturing “public hysteria about antisemitism without once mentioning the tens of thousands of Palestinians murdered under bombs made of your dollars.”
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The message came weeks after ICE agents detained Khalil in New York City in early March.
He is the first in the Trump administration’s crusade to revoke student visas for participating in protests. DHS alleged that he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, leading to Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreigners’ student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Khalil’s attorney, Baher Amzy, for comment.
