Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee of Algerian citizenship, was born in 1995 in a Damascus, Syria-based Palestinian refugee camp, where his grandparents were displaced from Tiberias, Syria. Despite being a permanent U.S. resident with a green card, Khalil's journey began in Syria, where he earned his undergraduate degree in computer science from the Lebanese American University.
Prior to enrolling at Columbia University, Khalil held various roles in international development, including stints with the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. In 2023, he began pursuing his master's degree in public administration at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, where he became increasingly involved in pro-Palestinian activism following the Gaza war.
As a graduate student at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, Khalil was at the center of the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations. However, his life took an unexpected turn on March 8, 2025, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, acting on orders from the State Department, took Khalil from his home without charging him with a crime.
Despite being a lawful permanent resident of the United States with a green card, ICE claimed they were revoking his status instead. Khalil was transported to the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana, where he remained until a federal court intervened. On March 10, 2025, US District Judge Jesse Furman halted the Trump administration's attempt to deport Khalil, pending a judicial review of its constitutionality.
On March 12, 2025, Judge Furman extended the block on Khalil's deportation following a hearing in Manhattan federal court, effectively halting the proceedings and giving Khalil a chance to continue his studies and advocate for Palestinian rights in the United States.
