A banner saying FREE MAHMOUD KHALIL NOW with Mahmoud Khalil's photo overlaid.

Free Mahmoud Khalil and protect our First Amendment rights!

ACT NOW

Dear Friend,

By now, you may have heard of the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and activist at Columbia University, who was taken by federal agents on the evening of March 8, 2025.

This marks the first reported arrest in what the Trump administration has promised will be a crackdown against pro-Palestinian organizing, including against students who participated in on-campus protests all over the U.S. throughout the last year. It’s clear this administration is also using Khalil has a litmus test for what it can get away with when it comes to chipping away at our constitutionally protected rights and freedoms. But this arrest is only the latest in this country’s long history of criminalizing pro-Palestinian activism and activism that challenges state and corporate abuses.¹

As the spokesperson and lead negotiator of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, Mahmoud Khalil led student protests at Columbia University’s Manhattan campus against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, joining tens of thousands of students across universities in the U.S. who have criticized U.S. and Israeli government actions.² His visibility as a pro-Palestine activist made him a target of various harassment campaigns.

Now, despite being a lawful permanent resident of the United States, federal agents have “revoked” Khalil’s visa and are attempting to deport him from the country.³ Khalil is currently being held at an ICE facility in Louisiana operated by GEO Group, a for-profit prison contractor that is set to make billions from the Trump administration’s campaign of mass abduction and deportations.⁴ ⁵ ⁶

We cannot allow this to happen! That’s why we’re joining our allies and human rights groups from around the U.S. to urge Congress to do everything they can to secure Khalil’s release as soon as possible. So will you take action and join the thousands of people who are demanding the same?

Khalil’s arrest is another example of how the U.S. government is targeting Palestinian, Arab, and pro-Palestinian voices to systematically silence any criticism of Israel -- all by trampling on our First Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly. And it is a chilling preview of what can -- and will -- happen if we don’t immediately and collectively oppose the Trump administration’s escalating repression of our civil liberties.

No matter who we are, where we come from, and what our beliefs are, every person should be able to safely exercise our freedoms, including the freedom to speak up for what we believe in. If a permanent resident of the U.S. can be abducted from the streets under unsubstantiated charges, what protections are there for any of us, regardless of our citizenship or status?

We must act now. Take action TODAY by adding your name to demand the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil from federal custody.

Onward,

Nina Wolff Landau
Pronouns: she/hers or they/them
Deputy Campaigns Director
Corporate Accountability

ACT NOW

1. "Noura Erakat: Trump’s Abuses & Mahmoud Khalil’s Arrest Are Products of U.S. Imperialism Coming Home," Democracy Now.

2. "How Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Trump’s crackdown on campus protests," the Associated Press (AP).

3. Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil will remain in ICE detention in Louisiana after first court hearing, CNN.

4. "Palestinian Activist Detained at Louisiana ICE Facility With History of Deaths and Abuse," The Appeal.

5. "Private Prison Companies Set to Make Billions Reopening Jails for ICE," Mother Jones.

6. "Trump expected to invoke wartime authority to speed up mass deportation effort in coming days," CNN.

Corporate Accountability stops transnational corporations from devastating democracy, trampling human rights, and destroying our planet. We are building a world rooted in justice where corporations answer to people, not the other way around -- a world where every person has access to clean water, healthy food, a safe place to live, and the opportunity to reach their full human potential.

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Corporate Accountability
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