On Wednesday, March 12, a hearing was held in a Manhattan federal court regarding ICE’s detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States and a graduate of Columbia University. A large crowd gathered outside the courthouse to protest the detention and attempted deportation of the Palestinian student activist leader, who is married to an American citizen. Among the crowd was Susan Sarandon, who gave a statement in solidarity with Khalil. “No matter where you stand on genocide, freedom of speech is an issue, is a right, that we all have,” she told reporters. “And this is a turning point in the history and the freedom of this country.” The Six Triple Eight actor has long used her celebrity platform to support leftist causes ranging from Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign to climate-change action. A month after the attacks of October 7, 2023, she spoke at a rally for Palestine.
On March 8 of this year, Khalil was arrested at his home by the Department of Homeland Security as part of a government campaign to crack down on campus protesters and was transported to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana. Other celebrities who have expressed solidarity with Khalil include Finneas, Cynthia Nixon, Ramy Youssef, and Pauline Chalamet.