Federal Agents Execute Search Warrants at Columbia University Dorms Following Arrest of Anti-Israel Agitator Mahmoud Khalil

Edited by: Fern Sidman

In a dramatic development underscoring growing federal scrutiny of radical activism on college campuses, agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) executed search warrants on two Columbia University student residences Thursday night. As was reported by The New York Post on Friday, the federal operation occurred just days after Mahmoud Khalil — a central figure in last summer’s anti-Israel protests — was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at an off-campus university-owned apartment.

The enforcement action was revealed in a detailed letter from Columbia’s Interim President Katrina Armstrong to the university community. According to the information provided in the NYP report, Armstrong confirmed that the searches were conducted under judicial authority, with DHS agents presenting two search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge. These warrants granted agents access to non-public university areas, specifically two student rooms.

Armstrong emphasized Columbia’s legal obligations, stating unequivocally that the university is required to comply with such federal mandates:  “The University has a clear protocol in place. Consistent with this protocol, our longstanding practice, and the practices of cities and institutions throughout the country, the University requires that law enforcement have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including residential University buildings,” she wrote, as quoted by The NYP.

Crucially, no students were arrested or detained during the searches, and DHS agents reportedly did not confiscate any items from the premises. President Armstrong assured the Columbia community that the integrity of university operations remains intact, and she acknowledged the emotional toll the events have taken on students, offering university resources for those in distress.

“I understand the immense stress our community is under,” Armstrong stated, according to The NYP, adding: “Despite the unprecedented challenges, Columbia University will remain a place where the pursuit of knowledge is cherished and fiercely protected, where the rule of law and due process is respected and never taken for granted, and where all members of our community are valued and able to thrive.”

The DHS action comes in the wake of the high-profile arrest of Mahmoud Khalil — a pro-Hamas activist and the leader of Columbia United Apartheid Divest, a vehemently anti-Israel campus group that The NYP reported has expressed open sympathy for terrorist organizations such as the Iranian-backed terror proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Khalil was arrested by ICE agents last Saturday in his Columbia-owned apartment, amid ongoing federal efforts by the Trump administration to deport him. The NYP report noted that Khalil is a green card holder married to an American woman, who is currently eight months pregnant with their child.

Federal authorities are pursuing Khalil’s deportation due to his role in organizing and inciting violent protests at Columbia University and Barnard College last summer — events which escalated tensions across campus and drew national condemnation, as per the information in The NYP report. His group, Columbia United Apartheid Divest, has been widely criticized for inflammatory rhetoric calling for the “end of Western civilization,” and is believed to have played a leading role in the aggressive occupation of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall last April.

As detailed in The NYP report, Khalil’s detention has become a flashpoint in a growing confrontation between the Trump administration and elite academic institutions accused of fostering anti-Semitic and extremist ideologies under the guise of student activism.

Khalil, who was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last weekend, is currently being held in a detention facility in Louisiana. His arrest came just days after former President Trump revoked a staggering $400 million in federal grants and contracts from Columbia University, citing the school’s alleged failure to comply with anti-discrimination laws — particularly in regard to protecting its Jewish student population.

President Trump’s decision to withdraw funding marked a dramatic escalation in the administration’s campaign to hold academic institutions accountable for an epidemic of anti-Semitism and political radicalization on campuses, the NYP report said. Trump’s move sent shockwaves through the Ivy League and has forced Columbia into the national spotlight — not merely as an academic institution, but as a battleground in the broader cultural and political war over free speech, hate speech, and national security.

Meanwhile, Khalil remains entangled in a legal fight to avoid deportation. In a temporary reprieve, The NYP reported that a federal judge ruled Monday to block any immediate attempts to remove him from the country, granting Khalil a short-term legal victory in what is shaping up to be a high-profile immigration case with political implications far beyond the courtroom.

Khalil’s arrest has already ignited a wave of public backlash. As The NYP report detailed, protests have erupted throughout New York City, culminating in a large demonstration on Thursday in front of Trump Tower. Dozens of protesters, many demanding Khalil’s release, descended on the iconic Manhattan skyscraper in a chaotic scene that ended with multiple arrests as police moved to disperse the crowd.

Amid the political firestorm, key voices within the Trump administration have signaled that Khalil’s case may only be the beginning. In an interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Vice President JD Vance stated unequivocally that more visa and green card revocations are likely to follow as the administration tightens immigration enforcement on ideological grounds.

“This is not fundamentally about free speech,” Vance asserted, according to The NYP report. “To me, yes, it’s about national security, but it’s also more importantly about who do we as an American public decide gets to join our national community.”

Vance went further, suggesting that the administration is poised to act swiftly and decisively to remove individuals it deems incompatible with American values. “If the secretary of state and the president decided this person shouldn’t be in America, and they have no legal right to stay here, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “I think we’ll certainly see some people who get deported on student visas if we determine that it’s not in the best interest of the United States to have them in our country.”

As of now, DHS has not issued an official response to requests for comment, The NYP noted.

The developments have fueled intense debate over where the line lies between lawful protest and dangerous radicalization — particularly when activism veers into territory that openly sympathizes with terrorist organizations, as Khalil’s group, Columbia United Apartheid Divest, has been doing.

Taken together, the withdrawal of federal funding, the arrest and potential deportation of Khalil, and the protests that followed represent a watershed moment for higher education in America. The Trump administration appears to be using every tool at its disposal — immigration enforcement, federal funding pressure, and judicial action — to reshape the ideological landscape of American universities.