Pro-Hamas Columbia Student’s Arrest First of ‘Continuous and Ongoing Effort,’ White House Official Says

The arrest of terrorist sympathizing former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil is part of a larger effort to root out antisemitism from American universities, The Daily Signal has learned.

Federal immigration officials arrested Khalil, a green card holder, for allegedly circulating “pro-Hamas propaganda flyers.”

President Donald Trump said his arrest would be the “first of many,” and a White House official confirmed Khalil’s case is only the beginning of the crackdown on terrorist sympathizers.

“This will be a continuous and ongoing effort to identify individuals who are guests of this country who are supporting anti-Semitic terrorist organizations,” the White House official told The Daily Signal.

The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil is accused of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the right to revoke a Green Card for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States.

“Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges,” Leavitt told press at Tuesday’s briefing, “and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists, Hamas, terrorists who have killed innocent men, women and children.”

“This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish-American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers with the logo of Hamas,” she continued.

The Trump administration has taken a hard stance against anti-semitism on college campuses.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 higher education institutions to warn them to protect Jewish students on campus from anti-Israel intimidation.

Many Democrats, however, have sided with Khalil. Fourteen Democrats penned a letter to the Trump administration urging the release of the Hamas-sympathizing student.

Senate Judiciary Democrats posted “Free Mahmoud Khalil” on X.

Students have taken to the streets of New York City to protest the arrest.

Leavitt said the Trump administration will not tolerate “individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro terrorist organizations that have killed Americans.”

“We have a zero tolerance policy for siding with terrorists periodic,” she said.

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