US federal agents arrested Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant last month, citing concerns that he might flee before one could be obtained, according to newly filed court documents.
"Generally, a warrant of arrest must be obtained. However, an exception to the warrant requirement exists where the immigration officer has reason to believe that the individual is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained," attorneys for the government argued in the filing in the court on Thursday.
The government's lawyers justified the arrest by claiming Khalil was uncooperative and stated "he was going to leave the scene," but video footage of his arrest, recorded by his then-pregnant wife Noor Abdalla — a US citizen — shows otherwise.
Government attorneys also noted Khalil's failure to carry his green card as a "misdemeanour." According to the USCIS, a Green Card holder must have the Green Card in their possession at all times.
Khalil, who helped organise campus protests last year against Israel's brutal war on Gaza that started a wave of pro-Palestine protests across US campuses, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8 at his university-owned apartment in New York City as part of US President Donald Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestine activism.
"This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government's own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States," his attorney Amy Greer, who was on the phone with Khalil and his wife during the arrest, said in an emailed statement, noting that "he remained calm and complied with their orders."
"The government now finally admits what the whole world already saw and knows: that ICE had no warrant to apprehend Mahmoud Khalil," Ramzi Kassem, one of Khalil's lawyers and co-director of the CLEAR Project at CUNY Law, said in a statement.
While the Trump administration has accused Khalil of engaging in "activities aligned with Hamas," no evidence has been presented in court to support the claim. He has not been charged with any crime.
Khalil remains in detention in Louisiana and missed the birth of his first child after ICE denied a request for temporary release.
Crackdown on pro-Palestine activism
Khalil's arrest was the first of a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on pro-Palestine activism.
A few days after Khalil's arrest, Trump's claim came due after another pro-Palestine student, Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, was arrested. His attorney said he was arrested because of the Palestinian identity of his wife.
After the arrest of Suri, authorities went after another pro-Palestine student, Momodou Taal, asking him to turn himself in.
On March 25, Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student, said she sued the Trump administration to stop her deportation from the US over her participation in a pro-Palestine protest last Spring.
Also on March 25, Ozturk, who is a Tufts University PhD student, was kidnapped in broad daylight by US authorities over criticising Israel's carnage in Gaza.
Last week, authorities arrested Mohsen Mahdwai, a pro-Palestine activist and also a Columbia student, during his citizenship interview.
 
Other students, like Leqaa Kordia, Ranjani Srinivasan, and Alireza Doroudi have either been detained or self-deported.
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Source: TRT