NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 A video released Friday shows the moment federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student whose detention alarmed free-speech advocates.
The clip begins with at least three agents confronting Khalil in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus Saturday night. The agents inform him that he is 鈥済oing to be under arrest," then order him to 鈥渢urn around鈥 and 鈥渟top resisting.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 no need for this,鈥 Khalil replies calmly as they place him in handcuffs. 鈥淚鈥檓 going with you. No worries.鈥
As his wife, Noor Abdalla, cries out in protest, asking in Arabic: 鈥淢y love, how can I call you?鈥 Khalil assures her that he will be fine and instructs her to call his lawyer.
Abdalla, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, then asks the agents to identify themselves. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 give our names,鈥 one replies.
The video was released by Khalil鈥檚 attorneys the same day the Justice Department whether the university concealed 鈥渋llegal aliens鈥 on its campus.
Khalil is a lawful U.S. resident with no criminal history. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he revoked Khalil's permission to be in the U.S. because of his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, saying they had riled up 鈥渁nti-Jewish鈥 sentiment and amounted to support for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned that the attempted deportation will be the 鈥渇irst of many鈥 of people who joined protests against Israel鈥檚 military action in Gaza
Federal officials announced Friday that they had tied to protests outside Columbia University and revoked the visa of a Columbia University doctoral student, who then left the country.
Khalil's wife, Abdalla, described his arrest as 鈥渢he most terrifying moment of my life鈥 in a statement accompanying the video. She said the arrest happened as the couple were returning home from an Iftar celebration.
鈥淭hey threatened to take me too," she said.
The arrests have triggered fear among international students at Columbia and been condemned by free speech groups, which accuse the Trump administration of seeking to criminalize political dissent.
Khalil鈥檚 lawyers have challenged his detention in court.
In court documents, they described how he was rushed from New York to Louisiana last weekend after his arrest.
The experience reminded Khalil of when he left Syria, where he was born, shortly after the forced disappearance of his friends there during a period of arbitrary detention in 2013, the lawyers wrote.
According to the lawsuit, federal agents denied Khalil's request to speak to a lawyer. When he was taken to a federal office building in lower Manhattan, Khalil saw an agent approach another agent and say, 鈥渢he White House is requesting an update,鈥 the lawyers wrote.
At some point early Sunday, Khalil was taken, handcuffed and shackled, to a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he spent the night in a cold waiting room. His request for a blanket was denied, the lawsuit said.
Then he was sent back to New York by van.
At 2:45 p.m. Sunday, he was put on an American Airlines flight from to Dallas, where he was placed on a second flight to Alexandria, Louisiana, arriving at 1 a.m. Monday.
Khalil is now being held in an isolated, low-slung ICE detention complex ringed by two rows of tall, barbed wire fences and surrounded by the endless pine forests. The complex, with a capacity of 1,160, is outside the small town of Jena, roughly 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge.
He now worries about his pregnant wife and is 鈥渁lso very concerned about missing the birth of his first child,鈥 the lawsuit said.
In April, Khalil was to begin a job and receive health benefits that the couple was counting on, it added.
鈥淚t is very important to Mr. Khalil to be able to continue his protected political speech, advocating and protesting for the rights of Palestinians 鈥 both domestically and abroad,鈥 the lawsuit said.
