Release Mahmoud Khalil and protect the right to protest
Petition to Congress:
We urge you to call for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil. We urge you to stop illegal detentions and protect First Amendment rights to speech and protest.
Over the weekend, Trump’s federal agents arrested and detained Palestinian student activist, Mahmoud Khalil.1
It’s clear that the Trump administration is targeting Khalil for his prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. This is an illegal detention — Khalil holds a green card and is a lawful permanent resident — and an attack on First Amendment rights to speech, dissent, and protest. Congress must act immediately to secure the release of Khalil.
Sign the petition: Urge Congress to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil from federal detention. End ALL of Trump’s illegal detentions and attacks on the First Amendment right to protest.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the extraordinary claim that the administration will be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported."2 The implication that pro-Palestinian protesters are “Hamas supporters” is a dangerous, ridiculous line of propaganda that’s been spread by the GOP, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and others to attack protesters and, now, detain Khalil.
The Trump administration is monitoring and punishing pro-Palestinian political speech and other dissenting views. It’s also expanding its mass deportation machine. Khalil’s detention is designed to spread terror throughout immigrant communities and the movement to oppose Trump.
Our leaders in Congress must not let the illegal detention of Khalil nor the Trump administration’s attacks on free speech continue.
Sign the petition: Release Khalil and protect the First Amendment!
Sources:
- Reuters, “US immigration agents arrest Palestinian student protester at Columbia University in Trump crackdown,” March 10, 2025.
- Ibid.