BREAKING: Judge blocks deportation of pro-Palestinian Columbia graduate in shock move

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From the Daily Mail: A judge has stepped in to temporarily block the deportation of a pro-Palestine activist who led student protests at Columbia University.

President Donald Trump boasted about the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, warning likeminded activists it was ‘the first of many to come’ as he embarks on his mass deportation policy.

Khalil was detained by ICE officers on Saturday night – who said they’d been given an order to revoke his green card – in front of his pregnant wife.

But a federal judge in New York poured water on Trump’s plan on Monday, blocking the administration from deporting Khalil until at least the next court hearing on Wednesday.

The court order, seen by DailyMail.com, states: ‘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.’

Khalil, a Palestinian who was born and raised in Syria, helped to lead protests against Israel at Columbia University last year.

CNN reported that Khalil is currently being held at a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.

According to Yahoo News: U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman issued his ruling Monday and scheduled a March 12 court conference to hear arguments in a wrongful detention challenge brought by Khalil’s lawyer Amy Greer.

Judge Furman was appointed by Barack Obama in 2011 to serve as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York and was confirmed by the Senate on February 17, 2012.

The Department of Homeland Security had announced on X Sunday evening, “On March 9, 2025, in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student. Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security.”

President Donald Trump then released the following statement on Truth Social on Monday:

Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.

Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here. We expect every one of America’s Colleges and Universities to comply. Thank you!

New York Attorney General Letitia James defended Khalil, writing, “I am extremely concerned about the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, an advocate and legal permanent resident of Palestinian descent. My office is monitoring the situation, and we are in contact with his attorney.”

Monday afternoon, thousands of pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets in New York City, demanding Khalil’s release.

Progressive ‘Squad’ reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib also defended Khalil.

AOC claimed, “If the federal government can disappear a legal US permanent resident without reason or warrant, then they can disappear US citizens too. Anyone – left, right, or center – who has highlighted the importance of constitutional rights + free speech should be sounding the alarm now.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), a Somalian refugee, raged against the decision to deport Khalil, writing, “Utterly outrageous. This is un-American. The forced disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil for nothing more than constitutionally protected speech is a clear assault on first amendment rights and a blatant act of authoritarianism. Khalil must be released.”

Fellow ‘Squad’ Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Palestinian-American, also raged in a statement on X, “We all have to fight back against fascism. This is a test case and it couldn’t be more important we stop this and bring him home. Mahmoud’s rights are our rights. If they can illegally abduct him and shred his legal rights, they will never stop. Anyone this lawless administration disagrees with can be targeted.”

Senate Judiciary Democrats also demanded Khalil’s release.

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