Detained Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil appears in immigration case

JENA, La. — Detained Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil appeared briefly Friday in immigration court in a remote Louisiana detention center as his lawyers fight in multiple venues to try to free him.

Khalil, 30, a legal U.S. resident with no criminal record, sat alone next to an empty chair — his lawyer participated via video conference — through a brief court session that dealt only with scheduling. An immigration judge set a fuller hearing for April 8.

Khalil briefly smiled at two supporters who attended but otherwise showed no expression.

The Columbia University graduate student was detained by federal immigration agents on March 8 as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on what he calls antisemitic and “anti-American” campus protests. Khalil served as a spokesperson and negotiator last year for pro-Palestinian demonstrators who opposed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Khalil, who was born in Syria to a Palestinian family, has said in a statement that his detention reflects “anti-Palestinian racism” in the U.S.