AOC and other NY progressives call for Mahmoud Khalil’s release in letter to DHS

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more than three dozen other New York elected officials have signed on to a letter calling for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in retaliation for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.

“The administration’s pattern of targeting the rights of students and immigrants to speak against injustice undermines democracy and makes everyone less safe,” reads the letter, which was shared exclusively with City & State. “We're writing to urge his immediate release back to his family in New York City. We also call on the administration to remove ICE and DHS from our campuses. Finally, we urge Columbia University to cease any and all cooperation with immigration officials who violate our sanctuary city protections and put their students at risk.”

Khalil, a green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was detained by plainclothes DHS agents at his Manhattan residence on Saturday night. According to an affidavit filed by his attorney, the DHS agents originally told Khalil that his student visa had been canceled by the U.S. State Department and later said that his green card had also been revoked. 

A Palestinian American born in Syria, Khalil was involved with pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, which drew accusations of antisemitism. After President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing that pro-Palestinian protesters’ student visas be canceled, a number of pro-Israel groups singled out Khalil and called for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to deport him. After Khalil was arrested, Trump cheered the arrest and promised that more pro-Palestinian student protesters would be deported. On Monday, a judge temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation.

The letter to DHS was signed by 42 elected officials. Two of the signatories – New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams – are currently running for New York City mayor. Of the signatories, 13 are affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.

The sign-on letter was spearheaded by Assembly Member Claire Valdez, a DSA-backed state legislator representing western Queens who was elected last year, and New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés. “It's important in this moment for New York state and city legislators to be unequivocal about our support for the immigrant community and for the right of anyone to be able to exercise their free speech rights,” Valdez told City & State.

Dozens of elected officials have commented in the days since Khalil’s arrest.

Some of the responses have been equivocal. “Right now, it's in a court. I mean, this is the right place that a judge should decide the appropriate path,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday. “Did he break the law? Not break the law? Or is it just political punishment? I don't know that answer right now, because I just do not have all the facts.”

Other responses have just been bizarre. “If he has a gun, he needs to go,” Mayor Eric Adams inexplicably said when asked about the arrest on Monday. (No one has ever suggested that Khalil was armed, and a spokesperson for the mayor later said that the mayor had not meant to suggest that he was.)

Valdez said she doesn’t expect a response to the letter from the federal government.

“I don't think that we're dealing with (a presidential) administration that is particularly interested in feedback,” Valdez said. “They've demonstrated that they're not interested in honoring, you know, our constitutional rights, so I wouldn't really expect them to answer a letter, either.”

“But I think it’s still incredibly important to signal to Mahmoud, to his family and to all of our constituents that we’re standing up for their rights,” she added.

In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, Valdez, Avilés, Lander, Mamdani and Adams, the letter’s signatories include: Rep. Nydia Velázquez, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; state Sens. Julia Salazar, Kristen Gonzalez, Jabari Brisport, Patricia Fahy, Gustavo Rivera and Andrew Gounardes; Assembly Members Phara Souffrant Forrest, Emily Gallagher, Marcela Mitaynes, Sarahana Shrestha, Jessica González-Rojas, Manny de los Santos, Gabriella Romero, Robert Carroll, Tony Simone and Catalina Cruz; and New York City Council Members Diana Ayala, Tiffany Cabán, Shahana Hanif, Sandy Nurse, Carmen de la Rosa, Chi Ossé, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Crystal Hudson, Lincoln Restler, Pierina Sanchez, Justin Brannan, Rita Joseph, Shekar Krishnan, Christopher Marte, Carlina Rivera, Yusef Salaam and Julie Won.