Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia University agitator detained by ICE for deportation, claims feds acted unlawfully as he makes bid for release

The Columbia University protest ringleader busted by ICE agents and slated for deportation argued he should be released Monday, claiming the feds detained him illegally.Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a petition in Manhattan federal court claiming there was “no basis” for his arrest and detention Saturday at his university-owned apartment on the Upper West Side.The court documents allege that Khalil’s arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcementrepresents “the US government’s open repression of student activism and free speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza.”As agents moved to arrest him, Khalil showed them his immigration documents, “demonstrating that he is a lawful permanent resident — not a student visa holder,” the filing alleges.But ICE still took him into custody, marking the first such arrest by federal authorities of an individual connected to the anti-Israel campus uprisings which began last spring.The filing calls Khalil — who fronts a group called Columbia United Apartheid Divest, which has been behind numerous disruptive and at times violent campus protests at Columbia and other schools — an “outspoken activist,” but claims there was “no other basis” to take him into federal custody.The documents name acting ICE New York field office director William Joyce, Acting ICE director Caleb Vitello, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and US Attorney General Pam Bondi as respondents, accusing them of “engaging in blatant efforts to target and chill [Khalil’s] particular viewpoints in contravention to the First Amendment and [Khalil’s] Due Process rights.”...