Local Officials Demand Release of Detained Columbia University Student

More than two dozen elected officials, including mayoral candidates Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani, are sending a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student detained by ICE.

The letter is being sent Tuesday, and it also calls on Columbia to stop any and all cooperation with immigration officials, urging President Trump’s administration to remove ICE and DHS from college campuses.

“The treatment of Mahmoud Khalil by the Department of Homeland Security is not only inhumane, it is a blatant violation of his legal rights,” the letter reads. “He has been separated illegally from his pregnant wife, who is a United States citizen, and detained without due process thousands of miles from home. We see these actions by the Trump administration for what they are — a flagrantly unconstitutional attempt to suppress free speech and incite fear.”

Several other 2025 mayoral candidates, including Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, and Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos have separately spoken out against Khalil’s detention, though they are not among those signing the letter.

“ICE has no right to detain a green card holder who has not been convicted of, or even charged with, any crime. This is profoundly un-American, and Khalil must be released,” Myrie wrote on social media.

Speaker Adams stated the incident “cannot be allowed to stand,” describing it as “blatant authoritarianism.”

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Adams have remained largely silent on the issue, with Adams indicating he did not want to opine on the deportation as it falls under federal jurisdiction.

A total of 28 local officials signed Tuesday’s letter to Noem, including Councilwomen Alexa Aviles and Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.