I was a student at Columbia University, where I covered tense campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war for the college newspaper and for POLITICO. So I’m familiar with Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student who I’ve chatted with in the past and appears to be the first target of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on student protesters.

Palestinian activist and former Columbia University grad student Mahmoud Khalil, who played a significant role in the Gaza protests at Columbia last year, was arrested by federal immigration authorities.