US federal agents arrested Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant last month, citing concerns that he might flee before one could be obtained, according to newly filed court documents.
“Generally, a warrant of arrest must be obtained. However, an exception to the warrant requirement exists where the immigration officer has reason to believe that the individual is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained,” attorneys for the government argued in the filing in the court.
The government’s lawyers justified the arrest by claiming Khalil was uncooperative and stated “he was going to leave the scene,” but video footage of his arrest, recorded by his then-pregnant wife Noor Abdalla — a US citizen — shows otherwise.
Government attorneys also noted Khalil’s failure to carry his green card as a “misdemeanor.” The Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the case.
Khalil, who helped organize campus protests last year against Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8 at his university-owned apartment in New York City as part of US President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism.
“This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States,” his attorney Amy Greer, who was on the phone with Khalil and his wife during the arrest, said in an emailed statement, noting that “he remained calm and complied with their orders.”
“The government now finally admits what the whole world already saw and knows: that ICE had no warrant to apprehend Mahmoud Khalil,” Ramzi Kassem, one of Khalil’s lawyers and co-director of the CLEAR Project at CUNY Law, said in a statement.
While the Trump administration has accused Khalil of engaging in “activities aligned with Hamas,” no evidence has been presented in court to support the claim. He has not been charged with any crime.
Khalil remains in detention in Louisiana and missed the birth of his first child after ICE denied a request for temporary release.