More than 100 demonstators took to the streets in Westwood and UCLA on Tuesday, March 11 to rally against the arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza at Columbia University last year.

The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil has sparked questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are protected against being deported from the U.S. when their opinions differ from those of the Trump administration.

Khalil was arrested Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Homeland Security officials and President Donald Trump have indicated that the arrest was directly tied to his role in the protests at the New York campus last Spring.

Trump has said Khalil’s arrest would be “the first of many.” Many politicians and academic and legal experts say the arrest was unlawful and violates the First Amendment.

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) held a protest at the Westwood Federal Building followed by a march to UCLA. On the UCLA campus, several groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine and Faculty for Justice in Palestine and Grad Students for Justice in Palestine held a walkout calling for Khalil’s release.

Over one hundred protestors walked across the UCLA campus, marching from Royce Quad to Murphy Hall, chanting, “Free Mahmoud Khalid now.” Many held signs referencing free speech, democracy, anti-ICE statements and calls for University of California divestment from Israel.

Near the front of the group, flanked by individuals in academic regalia, a sign said, “UCLA Faculty and Staff; We stand with our students.”

One speaker called Khalil a political prisoner.“He has been taken hostage by ICE. He has been taken hostage by the state,” the organizer said.

“This is because he (Khalil) took a stand. He chose to fight against the genocide of the Palestinian people,” a student organizer said.

At Murphy Hall, protesters were met with a presence of security on bikes, blocking the entrance of the building. Protesters gathered outside the building, where speakers addressed the crowd, calling for Khalil to be freed.

One speaker spoke about why she covered her face at the protest, citing concerns of surveillance by UCLA and the government.

Khalil graduated in December 2024 from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, according to the university’s newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, and served as a lead negotiator for the campus’ “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”

A lawful resident of the United States, he was arrested at his university-owned apartment in New York.

On Monday, March 10, thousands of protesters gathered in Manhattan to protest Khalil’s arrest. Also Monday, a federal judge in New York City ordered the government not to remove Mr. Khalil from the country while the judge reviews a petition challenging his detention.

According to ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System, a person named Mahmoud Khalil, born in Syria, is being detained at the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana.

The Department of Homeland Security wrote on X that “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” and stated that the arrest was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.”

UCLA was one of ten schools named in a forthcoming federal task force investigation against anti-Semitism announced by the Department of Justice after President Trump’s executive order that called for additional measures to combat anti-Semitism.

The university had a longstanding pro-Palestine student encampment last spring and was the site of a late-night clash that turned violent on April 30, 2024 when counter-protesters entered the encampment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.