The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student, who was arrested on Saturday, March 8, has called for urgent action, urging supporters to pressure authorities for his immediate release.
Khalil, a US green card holder, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while returning to his university-owned apartment in Manhattan. His arrest is reportedly linked to his role in organising protests against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia in 2024.
The arrest follows US President Donald Trump’s pledge, made during his first week in office, to arrest, deport, or deny visas to students engaged in Palestinian advocacy.
‘I was naive’ – Wife of Mahmoud Khalil speaks out
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, March 13, Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist who is eight months pregnant, revealed that just two days before his arrest, Khalil had asked her if she knew what to do if ICE officers came to their door.
“I didn’t take him seriously. Clearly, I was naive,” Abdalla admitted.
Describing the moment he was taken away, she said in a press statement, “On March 8, at around 8:30 pm, as we were returning home from an Iftar dinner, an ICE officer followed us into our building and asked, ‘Are you Mahmoud Khalil?’ Mahmoud replied, ‘Yes.’”
“The officer then said, ‘We are with the police. You have to come with us.’ He told Mahmoud to give me the apartment keys and that I could go upstairs. When I refused, afraid to leave my husband, the officer stated, ‘I will arrest you, too.’ The officers then barricaded Mahmoud from me.”
She said they were not shown a warrant and that ICE officers hung up on their lawyer. Despite the distressing situation, she said they fully cooperated, and her husband remained calm, though the experience was terrifying.
“Within minutes, they handcuffed Mahmoud, took him into the street, and forced him into an unmarked car.”
Khalil targeted in online campaign before arrest
Abdalla claimed Khalil had been the target of a coordinated doxxing campaign in the days leading up to his arrest.
“Six days ago, anti-Palestinian organisations spread false claims about my husband that were simply not based in reality. They made threats against him, and he was so concerned about his safety that he emailed Columbia University on March 7.”
She added, “In his email, he begged the university for legal support, saying, ‘I haven’t been able to sleep, fearing that ICE or a dangerous individual might come to my home. I urgently need legal support and I urge you to intervene.’ Columbia University never responded to that email.”
Expressing her devastation, she said, “Mahmoud is my rock, my home, my happy place. I am eight months pregnant, and I couldn’t imagine a better father for our child. We’ve been preparing to welcome our baby, and now he has been ripped away from me for no reason.”
“I am pleading with the world to continue to speak up against his unjust and horrific detention by the Trump administration.”
She also shared her deep sense of insecurity, adding, “My parents came here from Syria, believing the U.S. would bring safety and stability. But now, just weeks before giving birth, I feel more unsafe than ever.”
The Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations stated that students and faculty nationwide are staging walkouts to call for Mahmoud Khalil’s release, a demand the organisation has also echoed.
On Monday, March 10, a federal judge temporarily blocked Khalil from being deported, ruling that he would remain in the US while the court reviews his arrest and detention.
On Wednesday, March 12, Abdalla attended a court hearing in New York, where Khalil’s lawyers argued that his detention and potential deportation violated his constitutional right to free speech, Reuters reported. The judge extended the detention order while considering the legality of his arrest.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that the administration would revoke visas and green cards “of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
For his part, Trump said Khalil’s arrest was the first 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,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Many are not students; they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
An Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria.
He earned a computer science degree from the Lebanese American University before working at the British Embassy in Lebanon from 2018 to 2022, managing the Syria Chevening Programme, which provided scholarships for study in the UK.
In 2022, he moved to the U.S. on a student visa and later obtained a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in December 2024.
