OUTSIDE
“We Should All Be Worried”: New Yorkers Flood the Streets for Mahmoud Khalil
New Yorkers protesting the detention of Mahmoud Khalil. All photos by Clara Scholl.
MONDAY 4:34 PM MARCH 10, 2025 DOWNTOWN
On a beautiful spring afternoon, thousands of New Yorkers filled the Manhattan Federal Plaza on Monday calling for the release of Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil, a 30-year-old Palestinian activist who graduated from Columbia University, was arrested and detained by immigration officers this past weekend despite being a legal resident of the United States. He was targeted for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian encampments at the University last year, during which he and other students advocated against the war in Gaza. Despite the warm weather, the demonstrators were on edge, demanding an end to the surge in deportations under Donald Trump’s administration in powerful chants and bold cardboard signs. Students, teachers, community leaders, and activists filled the streets, united in a call for accountability over the mistreatment of immigrants like Khalil, whose wife is eight months pregnant. As they marched, I spoke to several protesters about what motivated them to join the demonstration and what concerns them most about the current administration.
———
AMY GOTTLIEB
“I work on immigration issues. We are seeing on a daily basis the expansion of private prisons to lock people up. We are seeing people disappearing every day. We are seeing people being scapegoated for a host of societal problems that they have absolutely nothing to do with. There are problems of poverty, of housing injustice, of lack of healthcare, lack of education, of over-policing and over-incarceration. And yet, we are in this position where our nation is blaming immigrants.”
———
RAVI RAGBIR
“This is nothing new. Trump has been targeting the immigrant community since he took his first candidacy. When he got into power, he wanted to just raze through our community, especially the leaders. I fought my own deportation for 19 years. They admitted they went after me because I was outspoken, which is a First Amendment violation. The New Sanctuary Coalition is where we need to come back together. It is a safe space for everyone.”
———
TAHSEEN SACKES-BRAMBLE
“Everybody should be concerned with the acceptance of fascism, with the acceptance of Nazi idealization, with the acceptance of Donald Trump’s administration getting rid of rights for LGBTQ and people of color. I think that we should all be worried about that. The fact that this has only been happening in the first few months of his term is extremely concerning.”
———
ANONYMOUS COLUMBIA LAW PROFESSOR
“I’m a unionized faculty member, which makes me contingent labor at a university. If a student is going to get arrested, potentially deported, or disappeared by our federal police force, then I’m going to be out in defense of student rights to protest.”
———
NAS ISSA
“I’m here today as an alumni of Columbia to protest the outrageous detention and disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil. Repressive forces always choose an easy target. They’ve gone from targeting undocumented people to targeting people on student visas to now targeting legal permanent residents on green cards. There’s no reason that this attack on political expression won’t also extend to citizens. So to anyone who thinks that this doesn’t affect them, I would ask them to take that to heart.”
———
MARGARET J. FINCH
“I want [Elon] Musk out of the White House. He’s not elected. It’s sickening, and I don’t like this mayor either. He’s lying. I don’t like Cuomo, because he also lies too. Luckily, the progressives are really getting stronger. I just wish they’d hurry up. I love Jasmine Crockett. She’s awesome.”
———
CECILIA MOURE
“This scares me for the ability to maintain free speech, self-expression, and a variety of opinions in the United States. I don’t want this to be where real imperialism and fascism comes into effect.”
———
ACE SUTHERLAND
“What concerns me most about this administration is the eradication of human rights. As a queer, trans immigrant myself, I feel like there’s no part of me that’s safe right now, and that terrifies me. I’m here as a director at the New York Immigration Coalition. Once we heard what happened, we wanted to make sure that we showed up for the community—specifically Mahmoud Khalil—and make sure that we call on the US government to release him as soon as possible.”
———
HANA ABUHAMDA
“I’m terrified for all the Palestinian students and all the students who have visas and green cards. It’s horrifying that the administration is targeting students who are simply victims of the system that’s in place right now.”
———
ANONYMOUS COLUMBIA LAW STUDENT
“I’m a Columbia law student and I’m here to protest the detainment of one of our own community members in what seems like a flagrant violation of constitutional rules and laws. I think the whole city of New York should be turning out right now for this protest.”
———
CHLOE BREYER
“I’m here today because it seems like the most undemocratic thing to take someone who is a legal resident of this country, ignore their rights, and take them into prison. That’s the definition of a non-democratic act”
———
KILELLE GLANZBERG
“There’s so much happening that it’s hard to follow everything, and I feel like that’s what the administration is hoping for. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it and not do anything, but these actions can’t be condoned as normal or okay. I’m in grad school for social work, and the people that I’m working with are impacted everyday by what’s happening. We need to show them that this is not something we’re going to allow.”
———
