'Shredding the Constitution': AOC demands answers after 'tyrannical' arrest of student

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took to X to demand immediate answers on the immigration arrest of former Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.

She took particular offense at the wife of longtime Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller hailing the arrest as "Law Enforcement enforcing the rule of law."

"Violating rule of law, actually," Ocasio-Cortez retorted. "You are shredding the Constitution of the United States to go after political enemies. Seizing a person without reason or warrant and denying them access to their lawyer is un-American and tyrannical. Anyone celebrating this should be ashamed."

Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the United States married to a U.S. citizen pregnant with his child, was a major figure in the controversial anti-Israel protests at Columbia, in which people occupied and camped on the premises to demand the university divest from weapons manufacturers or any other company that might have interests in Israel. A number of people were arrested after occupying a campus building during these protests, which critics blasted as antisemitic, but many of those charges were dismissed, and Khalil himself has not been charged with any sort of crime.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents turned up at his apartment to arrest him and threatened his wife. Officials initially claimed he had violated his student visa, despite the fact he has a green card and isn't on a student visa, then later claimed his green card had been revoked when his lawyer pointed this out. He has now been moved to a detention facility in Louisiana that is infamous for rampant abuse of prisoners, including "restrictive five-point shackles and prolonged solitary confinement ... physical assault, sexual abuse, and denial of prescribed medications," according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is mounting a campaign to urge members of Congress to demand Khalil's release, noting, "The Department of Homeland Security’s lawless decision to arrest him solely because of his peaceful anti-genocide activism represents a blatant attack on the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, immigration laws, and the very humanity of Palestinians."

Trump himself has confirmed he ordered the arrest, posting on his Truth Social account, "This is the first arrest of many to come."

"We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it," said Trump.

This follows his move last week to strip Columbia University itself of $400 million in federal grants on the grounds that they failed to protect Jewish students from protesters.