The agents of the application of the immigration and customs forces arrested the Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil – a leader in the camp of the University of Columbia – on Saturday evening, saying that his student visa had been dismissed, according to lawyer Amy Greer in a statement at ABC News.
However, Khalil is in the United States on a green card and not on a student visa, Greer said on Sunday.
Despite the agents informed of its legal status, Ice held it, she said.
At one point during a telephone call with agents, they hung up on Greer, a representative of his law firm in ABC News.
Greer challenges his arrest and was unable to locate where he is detained, she said.
“Obviously, we deposited a petition from Habeas Corpus on behalf of Mahmoud contesting the validity of his arrest and detention,” she said. “Currently, we do not know where Mahmoud was precise.”
Columbia University in New York.
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Khalil’s wife, an eight -month pregnant and American citizen, could not find him in an ICE installation in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he would have been transferred, said Greer – adding that he could have been transferred to Louisiana.
“Mahmoud’s arrest and detention by Ice follow the repression opened by the American government of student activism and political discourse, specifically targeting students of Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s attack on Gaza,” she said. “The American government has clearly indicated that it would use the application of immigration as a tool to suppress this speech.”
The alleged arrest occurred only a few days after President Donald Trump went to social networks threatening to undo universities that have enabled “illegal protests” and “agitators” will be returned to their country of origin.
“All federal funding will stop for any college, school or university which will authorize illegal demonstrations. The agitators will be imprisoned / or continuously returned to the country from which they came. American students will be expelled permanently or, according to Trump on crime, arrested. No masks! Thank you for your attention to this affair,” posted Trump on March 4.
Columbia published the following declaration on Sunday: “There were ice reports on the campus. Columbia A and will continue to follow the law. In accordance with our long -standing practice and the practice of cities and institutions across the country, the police must have a judicial guarantee to enter the non -public university fields, including university buildings.”
“Columbia undertakes to comply with all legal obligations and to support our student body and our campus community,” continued the press release.
