New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil during a news conference, responding to the Trump administration’s recent efforts to deport him.
Mamdani argued that Khalil should remain in New York City, stating that “Mahmoud Khalil is a New Yorker.”
“This attack on him is part of a larger assault on freedom of speech, particularly when that speech advocates for Palestinian human rights,” he said on Thursday.
“I will make that clear to everyone – I have said it time and again – that he deserves to stay in the city. He deserves to be here, just like any other New Yorker,” Fox News quoted Mamdani as saying.
Khalil, who was born in Syria to a Palestinian family, holds a green card and entered the US with a student visa. He was one of the main figures in the 2024 anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.
Arrested for anti-Israel activism
In March, Khalil was arrested for his anti-Israel activism on campus. An immigration judge ruled that he could be removed from the country based on a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which stated that his campus protests were not aligned with US foreign policy interests, Fox News reported.
The Trump administration has been pushing to deport Khalil, while his lawyers argue that the removal of his green card would violate the US Constitution.
He was ordered to be released from government detention in June, after his legal team contended that “Mahmoud cannot be legally detained or deported now because his appeals process has not concluded.”
In early January, a federal appeals court ruled that a lower court judge lacked the authority to order Khalil’s release, siding with the Trump administration.
Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.