Dozens of Democrats told the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to stop the “continued targeting” of Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist who was detained and released last year but still lives under the threat of deportation.
Immigration agents arrested Khalil, a Syrian-born legal U.S. resident, last March after he played a prominent role in demonstrations at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza. The government accused him of stoking antisemitism and detained him for 104 days.
Though a federal judge ordered Khalil released from custody last year, the Trump administration is still trying to deport him through immigration proceedings.
“Evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that the Administration’s detention of and efforts to deport Mr. Khalil have violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process,” the 43 lawmakers, led by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), wrote in a Friday letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and outgoing DHS Sec. Kristi Noem.