Khalil said his situation is "oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria" in an op-ed in Columbia's student newspaper.

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University's student encampment protests, has been arrested by ICE.

Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.