New Video Shows Mahmoud Khalil Cooperating with ICE Before Detention

Newly released surveillance footage captured moments before Mahmoud Khalil's arrest challenges the Trump administration's claims that he was a flight risk and resisted detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The video, obtained through subpoena and provided by Columbia University, shows Khalil calmly cooperating with plainclothes ICE agents in the lobby of his apartment building, speaking on the phone with his attorney, and handing over his green card through his wife, contradicting government assertions of warrantless and forceful arrest. Khalil, a Syrian-born permanent resident and prominent pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, has been detained in Louisiana for over two months while contesting his detention and potential deportation. His lawyers argue that the government is retaliating against him for his activism, while a federal judge has yet to rule on his bail or address broader issues of free speech and due process in the case. The case exemplifies challenges in the justice system keeping pace with administrative actions targeting political protesters under the Trump administration.