Michigan officials call for release of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil
A group of federal, state, and local officials in Michigan is calling for the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University activist who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after leading pro-Palestinian protests last year.
The officials sent a letter to Secretary Kristi Noem of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), calling for Khalil's immediate release and for university leaders to keep ICE and the DHS from college campuses "so that other students are not profiled for embracing their rights."
"Mahmoud Khalil is a lawful permanent resident, and the use of ICE detention and the threat of deportation is an assault on both his rights and his dignity," read the letter. "It is also a threat to anyone who chooses to speak out against injustice here and abroad, a dire chilling effect on free speech for all Americans."
The letter was signed by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib; state Reps. Erin Brynes, Emily Dievendorf, Morgan Foreman, Sharon MacDonell, Laurie Pohutsky, Carrie Rheingans, Dylan Wegela and Jimmie Wilson; state Sens. Stephanie Chang, Erika Geiss and Sue Shink; Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer; Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi; Ann Arbor Public Schools board Trustee Rima Mohammad; Ypsilanti City Council member Desirae Simmons; Detroit City Council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero; Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud; and Westland City Council President Mike McDermott.
In the letter, officials claim that Khalil was being targeted for being Palestinian American. CBS News obtained documents from DHS that showed the 30-year-old was born in Syria to Palestinian parents and he is a citizen of Algeria.
Khalil, who led Columbia University's 2024 student encampment protests, was arrested last Saturday at his university-owned apartment blocks from the university's Manhattan campus. Khalil was a student at Columbia at the time but graduated in December with a master's degree.
Officials say he will remain detained in Louisiana. In the days following his arrest, a large group of protestors entered the Trump Tower in New York City and staged a sit-in. Additionally, protestors gathered at New York's Washington Square in support of Khalil.
Khalil has not been charged with a crime, but the Trump administration argues that it can deport him on foreign policy grounds.
