Student protests across the United States have always been a venue for young people to express their concerns about and support for causes that represent importance to them. These protests range from calls for educational reform, to ceasefires in global conflicts such as the most recent war in Gaza. Since 2023, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli activists have taken to the campus of Columbia University, along with schools across the country, in support of a ceasefire in the Gaza war, using their constitutional right to peacefully protest without worry of arrest or detainment. Now, it seems like times might be changing under the new Trump administration.
On Mar. 8, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered 30-year-old pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s home and stated that they were detaining him and revoking his student visa on orders from the State Department. This meant deporting him back to his native country, Algeria, where he is also a resident. Khalil is a current graduate student at Columbia University who is a permanent resident and green card holder. Despite pleas from Khalil’s lawyer and his pregnant wife, the agents took Khalil.
Members of Trump’s cabinet have publicly given their support for the arrest,claiming that it follows Trump’s initiative to crackdown on anti-semitism and violent gangs in the United States. “If you are on a student visa, and you’re in America, and you’re an aspiring young terrorist who wants to prey upon your Jewish classmates, you’re going home,” Speaker Mike Johnsonsaid to reporters on Mar. 11.
Despite these claims that Khalil was an “aspiring terrorist,” he has no criminal record or affiliations to any terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Even after his detainment, the Trump administration has failed to provide any laws that Khalil broke and it seems as though they just didn’t agree with his stance and his speech regarding the war, which violates his constitutional right to freedom of speech.
When Khalil was arrested, he was sent to an immigration detention center in Louisiana so that he could be tried and deported quicker under their conservative federal courts. According to CNN, this was shot down by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who ruled that under no circumstances may the Trump administration deport him out of the United States. This gave relief to Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, who released a statement that said, “ICE agents ripped him from our home and took him across state lines to Louisiana, violating his rights and holding him as a political prisoner. He is being illegally held by the Trump administration.”
Khalil’s arrest raised concerns from activists and students who fear they may be deported next if they say something deemed illegal. This led to protests throughout New York City where activists held signs showing support for Khalil. Junior Kwan Lee, who was visiting family in New York during the protests, said, “I didn’t know what was going on at first, but then I saw the hundreds of signs reading ‘Free Khalil’ or ‘Khalil doesn’t deserve this’ and I saw how empowering it was.”
Khalil’s arrest was only one of the instances regarding mass deportations that the Trump administration has carried through within his first 80 days in office. More recently, on Mar. 17, Trump invoked the Aliens Enemies Act of 1798, which was used during World War ll, and is now being used by Trump to deport Americans like Khalil without due process. This allowed the Trump administration to deport hundreds of Venezuelans to a mega prison in El Salvador without due process. They also ignored a verbal order from federal judge, James Boasberg, which “explicitly told the government to turn around any aircraft that had already departed the country if it was still in the air,” according to an article from ABC news.
The American people need to protest this wrongdoing by the leader of our country. Protests have sprouted up throughout the U.S. and participating can lead to change.
