Why pro-Palestinian protests are popping up at ICE offices

WASHINGTON—Protesters wearing masks and keffiyehs gathered outside the offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco on Monday to demand the release of pro-Palestinian immigrant students in detention. As ICE agents guarded the doors, protesters in Washington chanted for the agency’s downfall: “Hands off families, hands off lives! ICE must fall, no compromise!”

The Trump administration is not backing down from its plan to detect and deport immigrant students accused of threatening national security or engaging in anti-Semitism. Since January, the Homeland Security and State departments have canceled more than 1,200 student and teacher visas, according to an Inside Higher Ed tracker. Supporters of detainees such as Mahmoud Khalil, who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, say the arrests are unjust and have a chilling effect on free speech. The government says it is within its authority—and in the best interests of the country— to deport activists who pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began to analyze noncitizens’ social media posts that may be anti-Semitic. In compliance with Trump’s executive order to combat anti-Semitism, the agency may use social media posts, attendance at rallies, or even published opinion articles as grounds for revoking legal status.

Mahmoud Khalil was arrested in his university-owned apartment building on March 8. According to video footage of the arrest, ICE agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, a U.S. citizen. Khalil was taken to a detention center in Louisiana, where an immigration judge has been reviewing the State Department’s deportation order. He also has an ongoing case in New Jersey, where he filed a habeas petition to challenge the arrest as unconstitutional.

During the summer of 2024, Khalil was a mediator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student organization that espoused support for Hamas. CUAD leaders publicly supported “violent resistance” from Palestinians against Israelis and invited pro-Hamas speakers to campus. This included Khaled Barakat, an activist the Biden administration designated a foreign terrorist. While Khalil has not been accused of breaking any laws, the government says that his position as CUAD’s spokesman poses a threat to national security.

Louisiana-based Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans initially ordered the Trump administration to provide some proof that Khalil poses a national security threat. After Friday’s hearing, she ruled that the government’s argument meets the legal requirements for deportation. While Khalil appeals, a federal judge in New Jersey issued an order blocking the Trump administration from removing Khalil immediately.

The National Jewish Advocacy Center filed an amicus brief last month supporting Khalil’s deportation, arguing that noncitizens do not have the same right to free speech that citizens do. Khalil had permanent legal status because he is married to a U.S. citizen.

“The [Immigration and Nationality Act] was designed to ensure that individuals … could not reap the benefits of American residency while subverting important foreign policy and other values,” the brief reads. “Espousing support for terrorist organizations and leading groups of students who violated a slew of laws constitutes impermissible conduct for citizens and noncitizens alike.”

Last June, Columbia University reached a settlement with a Jewish student who sued the school for failing to provide a safe learning environment. According to the plaintiffs, student protesters discriminated against Jewish students and physically barred them from attending classes. As part of the settlement, Columbia started to provide walking escorts for any students concerned about accessing campus buildings. New York University and Harvard have reached similar settlements with Jewish students.

Other university-affiliated detainees include:

• Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish citizen and Fulbright scholar who attends Tufts University. ICE agents in unmarked vans arrested her on a sidewalk near her apartment in Massachusetts nearly three weeks ago. Legal counsel for the government accused her of being “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” As evidence, a State Department memo referenced an op-ed Öztürk co-wrote for her school paper last year that accused Israel of genocide. The memo said she could undermine U.S. foreign policy and create a hostile environment for Jewish students. Her attorneys argued in court on Tuesday that she should be allowed to challenge her arrest.

• Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student arrested on Monday at U.S. immigration offices in Burlington, Vt. He co-founded CUAD and Dar: the Palestinian Student Society at Columbia and helped organize campus demonstrations last year. Mahdawi grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank and has lived in the United States as a permanent resident for 10 years. Attorneys for Madawi said that he is Buddhist and does not believe in violence.

• Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University professor arrested in March outside his home in Arlington, Va. Suri, an Indian citizen, headlined speeches during student encampments last year and is a fellow at Georgetown’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Immigration officials revoked his visa, alleging that his father-in-law was a Hamas adviser 10 years ago. Suri claims that the government is targeting pro-Palestinian social media posts he made and the fact that his wife is an American citizen of Palestinian descent.

Mark Oppenheimer is a professor at Washington University’s John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. A self-described free speech absolutist, he said he believes Khalil did espouse pro-Hamas views, but he argued that should not be grounds for deportation.

“If we’re embarking on a new era when people who are not committing crimes, not giving material support to terrorists, not bombing anyone, not obviously inciting anyone to violent action, are scrutinized instead for having noxious beliefs, then that’s a new regime,” Oppenheimer told WORLD. “And then all of a sudden we have to decide who decides what noxious views are allowed? We are giving over enormous power to the federal government that it didn’t have before.”

Luke Moon is a board member of the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and supports the Trump administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian activists. The deportations align with recommendations in Project Esther, a national strategy the Heritage Foundation wrote last year for the task force.

“If people are just chanting or waving the Palestinian flag, that’s totally fine,” Moon told WORLD. “They are free to protest and participate. But if they are promoting Hamas, wearing the banner or passing out information supporting it, that’s where the line gets crossed.”

Amelia Rogers, a retiree in Washington, attended the Monday protest at ICE offices because she was worried that foreign students would be scared to attend pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

“I’m worried about the First Amendment and freedom of speech,” Rogers told WORLD. Anyssa Dhaouadi, a Palestinian Youth Movement chapter organizer, said her participation in the protest was about more than freeing detainees and standing up for free speech.

“Ultimately we know that they were detained because they were standing for Gaza, so we are also out here to echo the same demands of an arms embargo against Israel and a lasting ceasefire for the sake of the liberation of Palestine and Gaza,” Dhaouadi said.