Agents from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in last year's pro-Palestinian protests at New York's Columbia University, the student workers' labor union said on Sunday (March 9). - REUTERS
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00:00This is not a matter of simply violating university rules.
00:04This is a movement, an anti-war movement.
00:07Agents from President Donald Trump's administration have arrested
00:10Palestinian graduate student Mahmoud Khalil,
00:13who played a prominent role in last year's pro-Palestinian protests
00:16at New York's Columbia University.
00:18That's according to a statement released by the Student Workers' Labor Union,
00:21which added that Khalil was arrested by U.S. Department of Homeland Security
00:25agents at his university residence on Saturday.
00:28Khalil has been one of the lead negotiators with school administrators
00:31on behalf of the pro-Palestinian student protesters.
00:37His detention appears to be one of the first efforts by Trump
00:40to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students
00:44involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement against Israel's war in Gaza
00:48that swept college campuses last spring.
00:50A spokesperson for Columbia said the school was barred by law
00:53from sharing information about individual students.
00:56Spokespeople for Trump, DHS, and the Department of State
00:59did not respond to questions.
01:01It was not immediately clear on what grounds DHS agents arrested Khalil.
01:05Khalil's arrest comes on the heels of the Trump administration
01:08canceling government contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University
01:12worth about $400 million.
01:14The government said the cuts in the student deportation efforts
01:17are because of anti-Semitic harassment at and near Columbia's Manhattan campus.
01:22In response, Columbia's interim president said the school
01:25was committed to combating anti-Semitism
01:27and was working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns.