A day after at least 250 people protested at Chicago’s Federal Plaza the arrest and possible deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist who helped lead Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian encampment in New York, civil rights groups called for his release.
“Mahmoud’s case is not just about one individual,” said Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of Chicago’s Council on American-Islamic Relations. “It is whether the White House can summarily abduct legal residents and deport them for holding personal or political opinions that might not please the current ruler. It is very much about the heart and soul of American democracy.”
Rehab called the situation at a news conference downtown a “true test” to the nation’s democracy and a “weaponization” of the federal immigration system. Demonstrators Tuesday rallied behind signs that read “Protecting students is freedom of speech.”
One speaker drew a parallel between Khalil’s detention and the long-promised and much-publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that marked the earliest weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, saying officials had “used his immigration status as a weapon.”
“We want justice, you say how?” the protesters chanted. “Release Mahmoud Khalil now.”
ICE officers on Saturday arrested Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate with a green card, accusing him of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” Khalil, who is Palestinian, represented student activists last spring as they negotiated with Columbia administrators over an end to the encampment that sprang up on campus in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Trump declared on social media that Khalil would be “the first arrest of many” in a crackdown on student activism against the war, which is currently subject to a fragile ceasefire. Trump’s administration warned Monday of potential enforcement actions against Columbia, Northwestern University and 58 other colleges and universities across the country “if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus,” according to a news release from the Department of Education.
Khalil will remain detained in Louisiana until at least next week following an initial court hearing in New York on Wednesday.
To Robert Sharp, who attended the demonstration with his daughter and granddaughter, Khalil’s “unjust arrest and seizure” was a frightening sign of what he described as “lawlessness” from the new administration.
“Campus protest has to be permitted,” said Sharp, 74.
Sharp, who lives in the Loop, said he and his family hurried to get their shoes on when they heard of the protest. It’s at least his third in the last two weeks, he said.
It’s clear to Ed Yohnka, the ACLU of Illinois’ director of communications and public policy, that Khalil is being punished because “people in power don’t like what he said,” despite the Constitution guaranteeing his right to “speak freely” and “oppose government policy.”
“That is not American,” he said Wednesday. “It is not what makes America great, and it is not constitutional.”
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez introduced a resolution in City Council Wednesday condemning Khalil’s arrest and calling for his release. The council narrowly passed a resolution last year calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
“As an elected official who has sworn to uphold the Constitution, we cannot allow that this attempt to criminalize first amendment rights calls unnoticed and doesn’t go without a big fight to protect our Constitution, to protect first amendment rights, to protect our democracy,” he said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said at a City Hall news conference after a City Council meeting Wednesday that “the fact that people are being detained for their political views, that is beyond dangerous and reprehensible.” He added that it’s not the “hallmark of democracy.”
Anna Strzepek, 19, said she came to Federal Plaza Tuesday to make it clear that “this is not all right.”
“ICE detaining someone for what seems like political reasons is particularly frightening,” said Strzepek, a Loop resident.
Off to one side of the rally, a small knot of people faced northeast for one of the five daily prayers said by observant Muslims while protest chants continued. Lindsay Michael’s 7-year-old son ran back and forth, jumping on and off the concrete benches.
“It’s important for him to understand his right to protest,” said Michael, 49 and a Rogers Park resident. “When we feel so powerless, it’s even more important to come out.”
Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin and the Associated Press contributed.
