Columbia Student Calls University 'Vichy on the Hudson' in Op-Ed From ICE Custody

2025-04-06 00:01:19.443

Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University currently detained in an ICE facility in Louisiana, penned an incendiary op-ed published in the Columbia Daily Spectator. From ICE custody, Khalil accuses Columbia of facilitating his detention, suppressing student dissent under the guise of combating antisemitism, and compares the university's administration to Nazi collaborators, referring to them as "Vichy on the Hudson." He specifically criticizes University President Minouche Shafik, former interim President Katrina Armstrong, and the deans for cooperating with the federal government, citing the university's provision of student disciplinary records to Congress and the creation of a task force on antisemitism. Khalil also dismisses concerns about antisemitism among his fellow students as "manufactured," drawing a parallel between his fellow students and those who would oppress him in Palestine. He was arrested on March 8th after his student visa was revoked by the Trump administration following his involvement in anti-Israel protests at Barnard College. The op-ed has sparked significant controversy.