NYC immigration activist sees familiar Trump playbook with Columbia student’s arrest

Prominent New York City immigration activist Ravi Ragbir felt a sense of deja vu after learning of the detention on Saturday of a Palestinian student activist at Columbia University.

Ragbir was taken into custody for deportation in 2018, with ICE officials citing a wire fraud conviction from nearly two decades prior. He had a green card and was married to a U.S. citizen. But an appeals court ruled in 2019 that Ragbir’s detention was only a pretext, and that ICE officials likely targeted him because of his prominence as leader of the New Sanctuary Coalition, which says it opposes the “inhumane system of deportations and detentions in this country.”

Ragbir remained in a sort of immigration limbo until President Joe Biden pardoned him in his final days in office.

In an interview Monday, Ragbir said he sees the Trump administration using similar tactics to target student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was taken into custody by ICE agents. Khalil is a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, according to his lawyer. Khalil has filed a lawsuit challenging his detention, saying he was targeted for his activism against Israel’s war in Gaza.

On Monday afternoon, Judge Jesse Furman ordered the government to hold off on deporting Khalil for now. Trump himself, as well as other administration officials, have described Khalil as “pro-Hamas,” without providing further detail.

“It was the same tactic they used, which is to instill fear,” said Ragbir. “Everything they’re doing is to instill fear in our community so that we are intimidated and silenced.”

There was one big difference between the two cases, according to Ragbir. The Trump administration is being more aggressive in its second term.

He noted that the facility where records show Khalil is being held, the LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana, is often a final stop for immigrant detainees before deportation. Ragbir feared the government is trying to get Khalil out of the country before the courts intervene.

Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, said his detention is a blatant attempt to silence lawful dissent.

“He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent in violation of the First Amendment,” Greer said, adding that the transfer of Khalil to a detention facility in Louisiana was a strategic move to isolate him from his legal team and supporters.

She noted that his attorneys have filed a motion in federal court seeking his return to New York and welcomed the judge’s order barring his removal from the U.S. for now.

Trump has said Khalil is only the first student his administration plans to target.

“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,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “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.”

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” without further explanation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that the state department will revoke visas and green cards of “Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

Khalil's supporters said he'd been detained without any legitimate basis.

Khalil “is a lawful permanent resident of our nation who has not been charged with or convicted of a single crime,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is assisting his case, said in a statement. “The Department of Homeland Security’s lawless decision to arrest him solely because of his peaceful anti-genocide activism represents a blatant attack on the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, immigration laws, and the very humanity of Palestinians.”

Khalil was a well-known student activist at Columbia as the campus became engulfed in protests following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel and ensuing war in Gaza. While many student demonstrators wore masks and refused to give their full names for fear of harassment, Khalil openly spoke on the record to the press and worked behind the scenes to negotiate with Columbia administrators. He led the unsuccessful push for Columbia to withdraw all its investments tied to Israel.

Last year pro-Palestinian students set up an encampment on campus, staging a protest that escalated into the occupation of Hamilton Hall and mass arrests by the NYPD. A task force convened by the university found that hundreds of Jewish students said they faced hate, exclusion and discrimination. Trump, Rubio and the Department of Homeland Security have not alleged in public statements that Khalil participated in any specific antisemitic incidents.

Last week, Trump’s education department canceled $400 million in funding and grants to Columbia, citing "relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment" on campus. The acting president of Columbia has said that combating antisemitism is her “number one priority.”

Khalil was detained while staying in university-owned housing. Columbia has released guidance stating that “in general, ICE agents must have a judicial warrant or subpoena to access non-public areas,” including housing, but that “exigent circumstances may allow for access to University buildings or people without a warrant.” It’s unclear if agents had a warrant when they detained Khalil.

"Columbia has talked a lot about needing to keep their community safe. Mahmoud is part of our community. If they want to keep our community safe, the whole community safe, they can't be letting ICE on campus," said Barnard College senior Sarah Borus, who participated in the student encampment and knew Khalil.

On Monday, the Associated Press reported that ICE attempted to take a second international student into custody over the weekend, but were prevented from entering her apartment, according to a student union.

This story has been updated with comment from Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer.