Democratic lawmakers welcome and support pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and condemn his detention as an attack by the Trump administration

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-PA) met on Tuesday with Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student who was detained 104 days by immigration authorities. The three lawmakers, through public statements, denounced Khalil's detention as an attempt by President Donald Trump's administration to stifle free speech and criminalize political dissent.

Sanders, in a message posted on his official X account, expressed, “I met with Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, who was imprisoned for 104 days by the Trump administration for opposing Netanyahu’s illegal & horrific war in Gaza. Outrageous. We must not allow Trump to destroy the First Amendment & freedom to dissent.”

However, Sanders wasn't the only one to catch on to this. Pressley, who met with Khalil in her Washington, D.C., office, issued a statement on her official website, "Mahmoud is a kind, gentle soul who cares deeply about others’ humanity, and his abduction, detention, and ongoing persecution by the Trump Administration is egregious,” Congresswoman Pressley said. “I am deeply relieved that he has been reunited with his wife and his infant son. Our meeting today was fortifying and productive. I look forward to remaining in contact with Mahmoud as we continue work to center the humanity of families in Gaza, address the unjust and unlawful targeting of students exercising their right to free speech, and protect the fundamental, constitutional rights of everyone who calls this country home.”

This was Pressley's second meeting with Khalil, after visiting him in April at the ICE detention center in Basile, Louisiana.

Congresswoman Summer Lee also had her meeting with the Hamas sympathizer. In a post on her X account, she noted, "I had a productive meeting with Mahmoud Khalil today, who was illegally detained by the Trump admin. Students continue to be wrongfully disciplined for exercising their First Amendment rights and protesting a taxpayer-funded genocide in Gaza. Our institutions shouldn’t fuel an authoritative regime by suppressing dissent, and we must continue fighting back."

The Trump administration's response: He's a terrorist sympathizer

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on its X account, defended the Republican administration's actions and accused Khalil of being a Hamas sympathizer.

In this regard, the DHS noted that, "Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as antisemite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric. It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”

The story of Mahmoud Khalil

Mahmoud Khalil, born in Syria and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was arrested on March 8 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his apartment in a college dorm in Columbia, New York. Khalil, who completed his master's degree at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs in December 2024, was noted as a spokesman and agitator for pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The anti-Israel protests

Khalil's arrest was part of Trump's policy of ending pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, which the president has called "antisemitic" and "proterrorist." In that vein, the administration said Khalil led Hamas-aligned activities, an accusation the activist and his lawyers categorically denied, arguing that no concrete evidence or criminal charges were presented.

However, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the detention was based on a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which alleged that Khalil's presence would represent "adverse consequences for U.S. foreign policy."

“The foreign policy of the United States champions core American interests and American citizens and condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective.”