5 h. ago Trump administration says ‘many’ Venezuelans deported to El Salvador prison have no criminal record

ICE officials suggest a lack of information about immigrants summarily deported to the mega prison ‘highlights the risk they pose’

Events

8 h. ago ‘I am a political prisoner’: Mahmoud Khalil says he’s being targeted for political beliefs

Exclusive: Palestinian activist and green card holder speaks out from Louisiana immigration detention for first timeNever miss global breaking news. Download our free app to keep up with key stories in real time.In his first public remarks since being detained by federal immigration authorities, Palestinian activist and recent Columbia graduate, Mahmoud Khalil, spoke out against the conditions facing immigrants in US detention and said he was being targeted by the Trump administration for his political beliefs.“I am a political prisoner,” he said in a statement provided exclusively to the Guardian. “I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law.”Read Khalil’s full statement here. Continue reading...

Events

15 h. ago Mahmoud Khalil feared the U.S. would immediately deport him after his arrest, new court filings show

Although one ICE official said Khalil had been transferred from a New Jersey facility due to bedbugs, Khalil said in his hours-long detention there, he heard no mention of bedbugs

Events

18 h. ago Prison crisis measures triggered as jails full just six months after thousands of offenders released early

The measure comes despite thousands of offenders being released early in September, under a scheme which was designed to tackle the overcrowding crisis until 2026

Events

34 h. ago It started in a Venezuelan prison. Now US politics focus on the Tren de Aragua gang

It’s a local threat to some and a full-on invasion to President Donald Trump

Events

66 h. ago Mahmoud Khalil’s case is setting up an epic first amendment battle with Trump

Trump administration’s interpretation of immigration law paves way for high-stakes legal clash after activist’s arrestThe Trump administration is relying on an obscure provision of immigration law to justify deporting Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, setting up a high-stakes legal battle between the first amendment and what the government claims are its foreign policy powers.Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who became a leader of pro-Palestinian protests on the campus, was arrested on 8 March by immigration agents. After his arrest, immigration officials said they were seeking to deport him under a provision of federal law that gives the US secretary of state, currently Marco Rubio, the power to deport someone if their presence in the country is deemed to “have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago The US assault on free speech is not going to end with Mahmoud Khalil

The significance of the Trump administration’s arrest and threat to deport the Palestinian activist cannot be overstatedIt’s 2027 and you’re doom-scrolling in your apartment while eating a single egg for dinner. (Eggs are now $30 a dozen.) You fire off a few angry tweets about abortion rights and go to bed. In the middle of the night armed police break down your door and arrest you for destabilizing the security of the state. You are detained and then – if you hold citizenship elsewhere – deported. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Moment 'pro Hamas' Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil is arrested by ICE before protesters storm Trump Tower demanding his release

Mahmoud Khalil, an activist accused by Trump of being pro Hamas, was detained by immigration agents in the lobby of their apartment building in New York City last Saturday.

Events

3 d. ago A graduate’s arrest and Trump’s ‘pincer attack’ on higher education

The administration is cutting funds and threatening what it sees as liberal bastions, such as Columbia University, where it detained Mahmoud Khalil for his pro-Palestinian activismIf Donald Trump thought few Americans would care about the deportation of an Arab student protest leader accused of supporting terrorism and antisemitism at an elite university then he was wrong on several counts.Trump accused the student, Mahmoud Khalil, of being “pro-Hamas” and hailed his detention by immigration officers, in front of his pregnant American wife as she waved her husband‘s permanent residence card, as the “first arrest of many to come”. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Trump administration demands Columbia make sweeping changes – or have funding cut

Columbia has been told to relinquish control of its international studies department and ban masks

Politics

4 d. ago Law launching deportation of Columbia student was condemned in 1996 by a judge – Donald Trump’s sister

Arrested student’s lawyers argue that deportation order violates First Amendment

Politics

4 d. ago There can be no ‘Israel exception’ for free speech | Kenneth Roth

Trump should reverse his misguided effort to deport Mahmoud KhalilThe Trump administration’s threatened deportation of Mahmoud Khalil seems to reflect a dangerous disregard for freedom of expression – a blatant example of official censorship to curb criticism of Israel.Khalil was a recent graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He holds a green card, giving him permanent residence status, and is married to a US citizen. They are expecting their first child soon. Immigration agents arrested him last week in his university housing and sent him for detention from New York City to Louisiana. He had been a leader of protests against Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago White House asked for update after ‘retaliatory’ arrest of Columbia grad Mahmoud Khalil, his lawyers say

Attorneys argue Trump administration violated Khalil’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against constitutionally protected speech

Events

4 d. ago Mahmoud Khalil ‘felt as though he was being kidnapped’, lawyers say

Lawyers demand in updated lawsuit that Columbia University graduate be released from custodyMahmoud Khalil felt as though he was being kidnapped when he was handcuffed and shackled and rushed from New York to immigration detention in Louisiana last weekend, his lawyers wrote in an updated lawsuit demanding that the Columbia University graduate be released from custody immediately.The activist has told his lawyers that agents who arrested him at his university housing last Saturday night, in front of his eight-month pregnant wife, never identified themselves. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Mahmoud Khalil ‘felt as though he was being kidnapped’, lawyers write in new filing

Lawyers demand in updated lawsuit that Columbia University graduate student be released from custodyMahmoud Khalil felt as though he was being kidnapped when he was handcuffed and shackled and rushed from New York to immigration detention in Louisiana last weekend, his lawyers wrote in an updated lawsuit demanding that the Columbia University graduate student be released from custody immediately.The activist has told his lawyers that agents who arrested him at his university housing last Saturday night, in front of his eight-month pregnant wife, never identified themselves. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Deporting speakers over supposed ‘propaganda’ is a stock authoritarian move | Sarah McLaughlin

You don’t need to hold sympathy for Mahmoud Khalil’s views to see why his targeting is an immense threat to free expressionThe dust is starting to settle on the conflicting reports emerging after immigration officers’ arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University protest leader and green card holder, last weekend – and Americans should be alarmed by the similarities to authoritarian regimes’ speech policing.The White House has confirmed the arrest took place under a law granting the secretary of state unilateral power to act when given “reasonable ground to believe” an immigrant’s “presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the country. Continue reading...

Culture

4 d. ago Why was Mahmoud Khalil arrested and why is it such a big deal?

The Palestinian activist’s arrest has sent shockwaves through US civil society because of its apparent ramifications for immigration and free speech. Here’s what you need to know Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia and House Republicans over student records as university announces expulsions over protests

Federal lawsuit alleges university’s collusion with GOP’s campaign to crush First Amendment-protected dissent over Gaza protests

Politics

5 d. ago Prison fights and violence surge as warning issued over 'pressure cooker' jails

MPs have warned the prison service is operating 'hand to mouth' as it scrambles from one crisis to another - with jails set to run out of space again next year

Events

5 d. ago Almost 100 arrested during protest occupying Trump Tower over Mahmoud Khalil

Demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace demanding release of Palestinian activist stood in US president’s New York City buildingProtesters organized by a progressive Jewish group occupied the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian Columbia University student held by US immigration authorities, and nearly 100 were arrested.Chanted slogans included: “Free Mahmoud, free them all” and: “Fight Nazis, not students.” Continue reading...

Events