Biography
Mahmoud Khalil (born 1995) is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent. He was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Syria after his grandparents were displaced from Tiberia. He is a permanent U.S. resident with a green card. Khalil grew up in Syria and earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Lebanese American University, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before enrolling at Columbia, he held multiple roles in international development, including with the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
In 2023, Khalil began studying to earn his master’s degree in public administration at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Following the start of the Gaza war in 2023, Khalil became involved in pro-Palestinian activism. Khalil was a graduate student at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at the time of the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations.
Khalil was taken from his home by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8, 2025 without having been charged with a crime. The federal immigration agents were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke Khalil’s student visa. When the agents were informed that Khalil, of Palestinian and Syrian nationality and Algerian citizenship, is a lawful permanent resident of the United States in possession of a green card, they said they were revoking that instead. He was transported to LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana. On March 10, 2025 US District Judge of New York Jesse Furman halted the Trump administration's attempt to deport Khalil so that its constitutionality may be subject to judicial review and on March 12, 2025 he extended that block by written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court.
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