Palestinian behind Columbia protests faces deportation

A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead protests at Columbia University is facing deportation following his arrest by federal immigration agents over the weekend.

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Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from the university in December, was arrested on Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, saying it was a result of President Donald Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism.

He has not been formally charged with a crime.

Khalil's lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agents who took him into custody at his university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa.

But when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead.

Federal immigration authorities also visited a second international student at Columbia over the weekend and attempted to take her into custody but were prevented from entering the apartment, according to a union representing the student.

The woman has not been identified, and it's not clear what grounds ICE had for the visit.