These 14 Democrats signed letter calling for Mahmoud Khalil’s release

A group of 14 Democrats signed a Tuesday letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urging her to release Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who has become a test case in President Trump’s pledge to deport immigrants who joined campus protests against the Gaza war.

“Mahmoud Khalil must be freed from DHS custody immediately. He is a political prisoner, wrongfully and unlawfully detained, who deserves to be at home in New York preparing for the birth of his first child,” the lawmakers wrote.

Khalil is a green card holder who had a prominent role in Columbia’s campus protests in support of Palestinians, and against Israel. He is currently being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a facility in Louisiana.

Democrats and even some on the right have called the arrest a violation of his First Amendment rights. The Trump administration is reportedly relying on a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives Secretary of State Marco Rubio sweeping power to expel foreigners.

“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Rubio said Monday on the social platform X, sharing a news report about Khalil’s arrest.

The Democratic lawmakers who signed on to the memo are: Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Mark Pocan (Wisc.), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Ilhan Ohmar (Minn.), Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Summer Lee (Pa.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Lateefah Simon (Calif.), Gwen Moore (Wisc.), Nikema Williams (Ga.), Al Green (Texas), Andre Carson (Ind.) and James McGovern (Mass.).

“Universities throughout the country must protect their students from this vile assault on free thought and expression, and [DHS] must immediately refrain from any further illegal arrests targeting constitutionally protected speech and activity,” they wrote.

Tlaib, who has family in the West Bank, was censured for her remarks about the Israel-Hamas conflict in November of 2023.

In 2023, Omar, another signee, was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for denouncing the actions of Israel’s government.

The 14 lawmakers on Tuesday argued that Khalil’s constitutional rights have been violated.

“Khalil has not been allowed to see his counsel or his wife, and until the morning of March 10th his whereabouts were unknown. DHS initially informed them he was being held in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but his wife attempted to visit the facility on Sunday only to learn that he was not there,” the letter reads. 

After filing a habeas corpus petition, it was discovered that Khalil was transferred to an ICE facility in central Louisiana. 

The Democrats argue he was “targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader” of the Gaza protest encampments last summer.

“This illegal political justification has been stated clearly by figures throughout the administration, including the president himself. We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country.”

Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) chief of staff said she was waiting on one final detail from Kahlil’s legal counsel before signing on to the letter adding that if an opportunity to sign was still open, she would.

“If the federal government can disappear a legal US permanent resident without reason or warrant, then they can disappear US citizens too. Anyone – left, right, or center – who has highlighted the importance of constitutional rights + free speech should be sounding the alarm now,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a Monday post on X.

Prior to his arrest, the federal government revoked $400 million in grants to Columbia University citing concerns about antisemitism on campus. The Department of Education threatened similar financial penalties against other universities in the coming months. 

This story was updated at 6:11 p.m.