NEW YORK, NY — Surveillance footage released this week from Columbia University has exposed as false the Trump administration’s claims that Mahmoud Khalil attempted to flee arrest during a March 8 encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The video, obtained by subpoena and reviewed by Mr. Khalil’s legal team, shows Khalil calmly cooperating with plainclothes officers in the lobby of his Columbia-owned apartment building, directly refuting government assertions that he resisted or tried to evade detention.
The incident, which legal advocates and civil liberties groups have described as politically motivated and unlawful, has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and its treatment of Palestinian rights advocates. Khalil, a lawful resident and outspoken advocate for Palestinian human rights, was arrested without a judicial warrant in what his attorneys say was a clear act of retaliation for his protected speech.
The footage contradicts the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) narrative, which sought to justify Khalil’s detention by alleging he attempted to flee. Instead, it reinforces prior statements by his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla — a U.S. citizen and medical resident — who recorded portions of the arrest and described it as abrupt and baseless. In the new surveillance video, Khalil is seen calmly interacting with ICE agents, even reassuring his visibly distressed and eight-months-pregnant wife, telling her, “Habibi, it’s fine.”
Following his arrest, Khalil was transferred over 1,400 miles away to a detention facility in Louisiana, separating him from his wife and legal counsel. ICE later denied his request to be present for the birth of their child, forcing Khalil to miss the delivery of his son on April 21. His next immigration court hearing is scheduled for Thursday, and his legal team has filed a renewed motion to terminate removal proceedings on the grounds of unconstitutional arrest and retaliatory prosecution.
The legal coalition representing Khalil includes Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the ACLU and its state affiliates in New York, New Jersey, and Louisiana. The team argues that ICE agents entered Khalil’s home without a warrant, misled him about the existence of one, and fabricated claims after the fact in a failed attempt to justify the arrest.
Ramzi Kassem, co-director of CLEAR, said the government’s own admission — that no warrant existed — combined with the new footage, “is the nail in the coffin of ICE’s lies.” He emphasized that Khalil remained composed and non-confrontational throughout the encounter, belying claims of attempted flight.
Veronica Salama, a staff attorney at the NYCLU, echoed this sentiment, stating, “The Trump administration can lie all they want, but this surveillance footage couldn’t be clearer: plainclothes, warrantless ICE agents ambushed Mr. Khalil in his lobby and he complied without any dispute or attempts to flee.” She added that Khalil’s words to his wife during the arrest underscored the calm and cooperative nature of his response.
Johnny Sinodis, who represents Khalil alongside Marc Van Der Hout, said the video supports their contention that ICE “lied to Mr. Khalil, his attorney, and the Court.” He further revealed that DHS’s now-defunct Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) had opened an internal investigation into Khalil’s arrest just days before its dissolution in March — a move his legal team says signals even DHS recognized the severity of the misconduct.
Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, called the arrest a case of “deliberate targeting” rooted in political retaliation. “It’s past time for the courts to release him and send him home,” Sinha said.
Amy Greer of Dratel & Lewis framed the government’s conduct as part of a broader pattern. “Claiming that Mahmoud tried to flee instead of acknowledging that they made an unlawful arrest is one of the government’s tried-and-true tactics of blame-shifting,” she said. “But we have proof that Mahmoud complied with law enforcement. Now it is time for the government to admit that it made an unlawful arrest, dismiss this case, and free Mahmoud.”
The Khalil case has quickly become emblematic of what civil liberties groups describe as the Trump administration’s authoritarian drift — one in which advocacy for marginalized communities is met with surveillance, retaliation, and extralegal punishment. With a hearing set for later this week, Khalil’s legal team is urging the immigration court to act swiftly to dismiss the case and restore his freedom.
