By Martha Grevatt
March 21, 2025

The kidnapping and arrest of Palestinian Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was perhaps the most heinous example of collusion between the government and university administrators in repressing the Palestine solidarity movement on campuses in the U.S. People fighting for Khalil’s release have held huge demonstrations, gathered millions of signatures on petitions and protest letters and raised large sums of money for his defense.

The targeting of solidarity activists at Columbia, however, continued after Khalil’s March 8 arrest. On March 13 the university expelled UAW Local 2710 President Grant Miner, a Ph.D. student. Because Miner’s job is that of a graduate student-worker, his expulsion meant he was also fired. Local 2710 includes the Student Workers of Columbia-UAW, which was scheduled to begin contract negotiations with the university on March 14.

Earlier on March 13, Columbia decided the discipline cases of 22 students who participated in the Palestine solidarity encampment in 2024 which demanded the university divest from Zionist apartheid. All were given expulsions, suspensions or degree revocations. Then on March 14 a second Palestinian student activist at Columbia, Leqaa Kordia, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with university complicity.

UAW Region 9A, which includes Columbia University workers, stated on March 13, “The shocking move is part of a wave of crackdowns on free speech against students and workers who have spoken out and protested for peace and against the war on Gaza.” (Columbia Spectator, March 14)

Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers (SWC-UAW) held a rally on March 14, coinciding with the start of bargaining, to protest the repression meted out to students and to demand freedom for Khalil. At the last minute Columbia called off the negotiating session.