Palestinian activist/terrorist sympathizer and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Kahlil was arrested by federal immigration authorities two days ago and has had his green card yanked. President Trump wants to boot him from the country, but a leftist judge is predictably getting in the way, ordering that Kahlil not be deported while there is a legal fight over his detention.
(Video Credit: NBC New York)
The First of Many to be Expelled
President Trump is vowing that Kahlil will be the first of many to be ejected over support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations and for their blatant and violent anti-Semitism on campuses. But a whole gaggle of leftists is making him into some kind of martyr and hero. Some that the Right favors as well are chiming in, such as Candace Owens and Glenn Greenwald.
“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!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
A Martyr is Born
Khalil’s attorneys are now accusing the Trump administration of retaliating against him for his “constitutionally protected advocacy on behalf of Palestinian human rights.”
The media and the Left are asserting that the government has to show that someone is convicted of a serious crime before they can be expelled.
According to the Associated Press, Khalil was born in Syria to Palestinian parents and came to the U.S. in 2022 to attend Columbia. He married an American citizen who is now eight months pregnant, which the media is playing up for all it’s worth.
He has been a very vocal, high-profile activist at Columbia campus protests proclaiming support for Palestinians and Muslims. His arrest has spawned violent protests.
(Video Credit: Wall Street Journal)
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed Khalil’s arrest in a statement on Sunday. She noted that it was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.” He is a permanent resident, but his green card is being revoked due to his actions on campus, which “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The New York Post reported:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was “presented with intelligence” that determined that Khalil — a Syrian-born Palestinian who received his graduate degree from the elite school in December — was a threat to national security, a White House source said.
It wasn’t immediately known what intelligence Rubio was shown. But the source said the Department of Homeland Security has been “gathering intel” on those “actively engaging in supporting Hamas” — not just everyday protesters — since Trump’s executive order cracking down on anti-Israel demonstrators in the US on green cards.
Jew-hating “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) wrote on Instagram that it is “dangerous to allow our government to target people based on political speech. Everyone should be concerned about this.”
She is joined by a whole slew of Democrats who suddenly feel the same way. Funny, they didn’t feel that way when Biden was in office and conservatives were being silenced. Go figure.
Agitator in Chief
According to Canary Mission, Khalil participated in a pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia in April 2024 as a lead negotiator on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which is a rabidly anti-Israel student coalition. It was also in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
On April 30, 2024, Khalil was suspended from Columbia as lead negotiator while in talks with the university administration over the encampment that failed to solve the crisis. A couple of days later, it was reversed. The university laughingly claimed it had no evidence to suspend Khalil.
The Whole Gang Needs to Go
Khalil is not alone in those who should be shown the American door due to support for terrorist organizations and their brazen hatred of all things Israeli.
Columbia professor Audra Simpson also took part in the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia in April 2024, according to Canary Mission. A video from April 29, 2024, shows her participating and wearing an orange vest labeled “Faculty.” She linked arms with other faculty members taking part in the anti-Israel protest.
According to Canary, Mission:
Numerous Columbia faculty and staff members participated in the encampment wearing bright orange vests with yellow and gray stripes. Taped to each vest was a label that said either “FACULTY” or “STAFF.” They had organized to support the student protestors in various ways. Some made up a “human barricade” to prevent Jewish students from entering [00:03:16] the campus, and some held signs saying: “HANDS OFF OUR STUDENTS” and [00:00:31]“No cops on campus.” Other faculty and staff “lined up in front of the encampment in a show of solidarity with the student body.”
There was also a group of Columbia faculty and staff members who wore [00:01:00, 00:02:12] yellow vests with gray stripes during the encampment. On one occasion, they prevented [00:03:06] those they deemed “provocateurs” [00:01:09 00:01:26] from entering Columbia as well.
Obviously, Columbia has a major problem not only with Palestinian activists but with faculty as well. Time to clean house.
Mohsen Mahdawi is another anti-Israel activist who brazenly called for the destruction of Israel and gave cover to Hamas’s butchery in late 2023. Ten years before that, he had praised a terrorist who slaughtered dozens of Israeli Jews in 1978. He also supported the pro-Hamas encampment in April 2024 at Columbia.
Mahdawi served as co-president of DAR Palestine at Columbia University. He is also affiliated with the pro-terror activist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and is reportedly a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Mahdawi also supports the BDS movement.
It should also be noted that Mahdawi’s LinkedIn crows that he studied computer engineering at Birzeit University from 2008 to 2014. That school has lauded terrorists since at least 2003, when student government elections featured models of exploding Israeli buses. There was a competition for which Palestinian faction could kill the most Israelis.
Then there is Mohamed Abdou. He was a professor at Columbia who took part in the pro-Hamas encampment in April 2024. He is an avid supporter of Hamas and other terrorists. Abdou denies that Hamas has committed any war crimes. He is also vocal about his hatred for America and went out of his way to spread anti-Semitic drivel during Israel’s war with Hamas in late 2023 and early 2024.
Abdou is also a supporter of the BDS movement and is affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine. He writes for Al Jazeera as well.
Saphe Shamoun took part in the encampment at Columbia in April 2024, where he played music for the anti-Semites in attendance. He is a Columbia PhD student and a former instructor at Barnard College. He is originally from Aleppo, Syria.
Per Canary Mission, as of September 2024, Shamoun was listed as the co-founder of Laylitparty, which is a company that promotes the BDS movement.
Rounding out the examples is Abdul Kayum. He also supported the pro-Hamas encampment in April 2024 and the BDS movement. He spoke to students at Columbia’s Irving Medical Center on April 30, 2024.
He was an assistant professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health until January 1, 2025, when he was terminated by the university due to his activism. As of November 2024, he was still affiliated with New York University’s chapter of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP).
All of these individuals and many, many more are national security threats. The Trump administration should not waver in deporting these extremists. For the sake of national security, expelling these individuals should be non-negotiable.
