New Orleans activists took to the streets on Tuesday (March 11) to demand the release of an alumni of Columbia University who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents over the weekend for leading pro-Palestine protests at Columbia.
ICE records show that Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, is being held at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, about four hours northwest of New Orleans.
Khalil was arrested by ICE on Saturday. His arrest follows calls from President Donald Trump to cancel student visas and deport foreign students who have participated in recent college protests that the Trump administration and others have labeled as “antisemitic,” a label that protest participants have largely disputed, saying that they are supporting the Palestinian people.
If the administration follows through, students around the country involved in last year’s high-profile protests against Israel’s war in Gaza could be at risk.
Neither representatives at ICE headquarters in Washington nor in the agency’s New Orleans field office responded to requests for comment.
Khalil was arrested as a result of his involvement with student protesters at Columbia, who last spring erected a pro-Palestinian protest encampment that remained on university grounds for about two weeks.
During the Columbia protests, Khalil negotiated on the side of student protesters, who were lobbying the university to divest from its ties to Israel. In a news release, a top official with the ACLU called the detention of Khalil, a green card holder, “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American.”
“The First Amendment protects everyone in the U.S.,” Ben Wizner, director of the group’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in the statement. “The government’s actions are obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate. The government must immediately return Mr. Khalil to New York, release him back to his family, and reverse course on this discriminatory policy.”
On Monday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the government from deporting Khalil. He was transferred hundreds of miles from an ICE facility in New Jersey to Jena. His wife is eight months pregnant.
Members of groups including Palestinian Youth Movement’s (PYM) New Orleans chapter, New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports and Union Migrante rallied in front of U.S. Rep. Troy Carter’s Poydras Street office on Tuesday, calling on the New Orleans Democrat to join 14 of his congressional colleagues in formally demanding that the Trump administration free Khalil.
Activists with the Palestinian Youth Movement also want Carter to meet with them, Palestinian elders and its coalition partners to find out if he’s doing anything about Khalil’s situation.
Carter released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, condemning Khalil’s arrest as a violation of the First Amendment. Carter also said he has been monitoring Khalil’s situation since he had been moved to Louisiana.
And in a Tuesday news release, Carter said he remained “deeply troubled” by Khalil’s arrest, emphasizing Khalil’s legal permanent residency status and free speech rights.
“Our focus should be on protecting students from harassment, whether antisemitic, anti-Black, anti-Arab, or any other form of hate,” the statement said.
Carter then went on to criticize what he called the “Musk-Trump administration,” saying that Trump had failed to improve the nation’s economy — as he pledged to do as a candidate — since he was inaugurated in January.
“I call on the Musk-Trump Administration to do the job you were supposedly elected to do, to address the economic concerns of the American people. Egg prices are still skyrocketing and the stock market is crashing. Do better.”
Later in the day, about 50 people — including some who had earlier gathered in front of Carter’s office — marched near the campuses of Tulane and Loyola universities continuing to demand Khalil’s release.
Rory Macdonald, a Tulane student who is currently suspended after participating in a pro-Palestine encampment organized by Tulane and Loyola students and their supporters last year, said that there is fear among some student organizers that they will be targeted next. Protesters urged Loyola and Tulane not to cooperate with ICE and make the schools sanctuaries for immigrant students.
“I’m constantly concerned for my friends and my allies in the student movement,” Macdonald said.
Media representatives for the universities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Majdi Jaber, a Palestinian-American with PYM’s New Orleans chapter, said after Tuesday’s press conference that everyone should be concerned about Khalil’s arrest, detention and potential deportation.
“It’s Palestinians today, but it’s going to be a lot more people tomorrow,” Jaber said.