Mahmoud Khalil, identified as the primary orchestrator of the protests at Columbia University, is now under scrutiny as a potential national security risk, according to an inside source on Monday. President Trump, meanwhile, issued a strong warning that Khalil’s arrest was only the beginning, promising that more detentions would follow.
A White House insider revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had received intelligence indicating that Khalil—who was born in Syria and is of Palestinian descent—posed a risk to U.S. national security. Khalil completed his graduate studies at Columbia in December, the source said.
Details of the intelligence Rubio reviewed remain unclear. However, the insider stated that the Department of Homeland Security had been actively collecting information on individuals providing direct support to Hamas, rather than just participating in general protests. This effort was initiated following President Trump’s executive order aimed at curbing anti-Israel demonstrations by individuals holding green cards.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, corroborated this in an official statement, further asserting that Khalil had ties to Hamas-related activities.
“On March 9, 2025, in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student. Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” she said.
“ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security.”
Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday to celebrate Khalil’s detention and issued a warning to other universities where similar anti-Israel protests have taken place.
“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,” he posted.
“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,” he warned.
Khalil, who is 30 years old, was taken into custody at his university-owned residence on Saturday. ICE records and a statement from his attorney, Amy Greer, confirm that he is now being held at Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana.
“They’re planning to deport him, but it’s unclear where he could be sent. There aren’t any scheduled deportation flights to Syria,” another source noted.
On Monday, Khalil submitted a petition to the federal court in Manhattan, challenging his detention and alleging that ICE violated his constitutional rights by arresting him.
In the legal filing, Khalil’s lawyers stated that ICE agents had informed him that the State Department had rescinded his green card and that he would be required to appear before an immigration judge.
A White House official confirmed that the secretary of state holds the authority to revoke green cards.
Last month, Trump’s Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced plans to visit ten university campuses where incidents of antisemitism have been reported since Hamas launched its deadly assault on Israel in October 2023, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people and the abduction of several hostages.
Columbia University topped the list of targeted institutions, with others including George Washington University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Northwestern University, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Southern California.
“The President, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, and the entire Administration are committed to ensuring that no one should feel unsafe or unwelcome on campus because of their religion,” Task Force chief Leo Terrell stated.
“The Task Force’s mandate is to bring the full force of the federal government to bear in our effort to eradicate Anti-Semitism, particularly in schools. These visits are just one of many steps this Administration is taking to deliver on that commitment.”
Greer issued a statement condemning Khalil’s detention, describing it as “the US government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza.”
{Matzav.com}
Send him to iran