Columbia University is now the epicenter of the American culture war. The Trump administration is targeting a former Columbia student — and the university itself — as a test case for its new authoritarian regime.

The story of Columbia isn’t simply about Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student in international affairs there who was one of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian protests that burst into view almost immediately after the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. But when federal immigration officials showed up at his apartment building last weekend and whisked him away to a facility in Louisiana to begin deportation proceedings, they brought the malice and incompetence of the Trump administration into stark relief.

The incompetence was obvious from the start. At the time of Khalil’s arrest, federal officers seem to have believed that he was in the United States on a student visa. But that was incorrect. He’s a green-card holder, a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

The malice was plain as well. In spite of his permanent residency, which agents on the scene appear to have learned about soon enough, the government did not permit Khalil to have a privileged conversation with his lawyer until it was ordered to do so by a federal judge. Khalil was taken from his family when his wife, who is an American citizen, was eight months pregnant.

What was the reason for his arrest, potential deportation and isolation from his own attorneys? According to the Department of Homeland Security’s Notice to Appear that was provided to Khalil, “The secretary of state has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

While that statement sounds damning, the reality is that Khalil was detained because of his protest activity and not because he’d provided illegal support for terrorists. As an administration official told The Free Press, “The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law.”

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