Mahmoud Khalil Arrested: No Tolerance for Hamas

On March 8, 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Mahmoud Khalil for leading pro-Hamas protests that turned American campuses into battlegrounds of hate. For Jewish students, who have watched their universities become incubators of antisemitism since Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, this move is like a breath of fresh air long overdue. With the Trump administration’s newfound enthusiasm, America is finally standing up, revoking Khalil’s green card and insisting that he be deported under the Immigration and Nationality Act. It’s something the Biden administration would never have had the nerve to do; all Americans concerned with safety must applaud.

Let’s say things as they are: Khalil is not just a megaphone-toting protester. He’s being accused of distributing pro-Hamas propaganda, flyers bearing the logo of a terrorist group that butchered some 1,200 Israelis, including babies and grandmothers, in a single day. He was the leader behind Columbia’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a chaotic occupation that began April 17, 2024, closing classrooms, harassing Jewish students, and ringing out threats of violence toward Israel. This was not free speech; this was a horror delight, a spit in the face of every Jewish student. And Khalil brought this venom to America.

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This administration gets it. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not diplomatic on X: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so that they can be deported.” This is not about politics; it’s about living. The Immigration and Nationality Act allows the US to bar those who support terror groups without having to bring them criminal charges. Khalil’s arrest in Louisiana, despite a last-minute judicial stay on March 10, is a shift: America will no longer be an open sanctuary for those who idealize murderers. For Jewish college students, it’s a lifeline after months of doxxing lorries, death threats, and chants echoing Hamas’s genocidal playbook.

Contrast this with the Biden era. Campus protests raged unchecked in the previous administration. From Columbia to UCLA, over 3,100 arrests characterized the chaos of 2024 as pro-Hamas activists occupied buildings, battled police, and targeted Jewish students. At UCLA, pro-Israel counter-protesters were attacked with pipes on May 1, 2024, as police stood by for hours. At Columbia, the occupation of Hamilton Hall on April 30 was characterized by Maoist graffiti and shattered windows, with Jewish students dwelling in a nightmare of antisemitic hate. Biden’s response? Pablum words and a hands-off approach that let universities fend for themselves. The message was clear: Jewish safety wasn’t a priority.

That failure emboldened figures like Khalil. He protested, but he also spearheaded a movement that made campuses unrecognizable. Columbia’s graduation ceremony was canceled on May 15, 2024, the victim of his encampment’s blowback. Jewish students were verbally attacked, and Khymani James’s “Zionists don’t deserve to live” rant was merely the tip of the iceberg. At the same time, organizations like Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) refused to condemn it, doubling down with anti-Israel hate instead. The Biden administration’s inaction created a cesspool for this to fester in, leaving Jewish children to question whether America had their backs.

And now, with Trump, the tide is turning. Sending Khalil back isn’t about some individual guy; it’s a warning to all the Hamas sympathizers exploiting America’s liberty. Why is this important? It was an alarm call because October 7 wasn’t some distant horror. Hamas’s rifles and rockets didn’t just land in Israel; they ignited a tide of hatred that came crashing onto American campuses. Protests across the country, from MIT to USC, featured knives waved at UPenn and live mice thrown at UCLA protesters. This is not dissent; it is a threat. And when a student like Khalil, who has been given the privilege of studying in America, decides to support a group that incinerates families alive, he loses that privilege.

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This is personal for Jews. Every synagogue lockdown, every swastika on a dorm wall, leads back to the ideology that Khalil spread. Deporting him protects Jewish students on campus and Jewish communities worldwide. It’s a pro-Israel move, too, reinforcing America’s alliance with a nation fighting for its life against the same evil Khalil cheered. The Anti-Defamation League and others have tracked the antisemitic surge tied to these protests; the Trump administration’s crackdown is the answer many have been praying for.

Cries of “free speech” come from critics, and Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, calls it political revenge. Sure, there’s a debate to be had until you look at those flyers, hear the chants, and feel the fear of a Jewish freshman huddled in her dorm. The INA is not about silencing opinions; it’s about stopping terrorism’s cheerleaders. Hamas is not a debating club; it’s a death cult. Granting its followers room to grow in America is not tolerance; it’s suicide.

America’s safety hangs in the balance. If green card holders like Khalil turn campuses into hotbeds of radicalism, the chaos of October 7 risks spreading beyond Israel’s borders. The last administration failed, backing down from the mob. Today’s leaders are standing firm: no more.

For Jews, for Israel, and for all Americans who refuse to back down against terror, deporting Mahmoud Khalil isn’t just justice; it’s a promise fulfilled.