Protesters hold “ICE Off Campus” rally in front of Student Center
Graduate student Richard Solomon: “We came out at this rally to reaffirm the demands of the student referendum to keep ICE and DHS off campus”
Vivian Hir–The Tech
On March 21, dozens gathered outside the steps of the Student Center to protest the arrest of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and voice concerns regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities on college campuses. The rally was organized by the MIT Coalition for Palestine (C4P) and MIT Jews for Collective Liberation (JCL). Protesters also called for the Institute’s administration to release an official statement affirming their support for the MIT community with regards to potential on-campus activities conducted by ICE.
In an email to The Tech, C4P spokesperson and graduate student Richard Solomon stated that the purpose of the rally was to protest ICE’s deportation of students and raise awareness on recent developments within the MIT community. “We came out at this rally to reaffirm the demands of the student referendum to keep ICE and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) off campus,” Solomon wrote. The referendum, which was adopted by the MIT Undergraduate Association, passed with 88.5% in favor. However, a mere 30.0% of the undergraduate student body cast a ballot, down from 35.7% in 2024.
On March 8, Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by ICE in New York City following the revocation of his student visa. Khalil, who graduated from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in 2024, is a legal permanent resident of the United States and is married to an American citizen. Khalil was a prominent face of the pro-Palestinian protests that took place on Columbia’s campus last spring. At the time of publication, Khalil remains under custody in Louisiana.
Khalil’s arrest came less than two months after the Trump Administration rescinded a 2021 memorandum from the Biden administration prohibiting ICE from operating in certain areas, including schools and hospitals. Now, ICE can enter public areas on college campuses without a warrant.
On March 19, the MIT Office of General Counsel (OGC) released a bulletin to advise the MIT community on possible interactions with ICE on campus. The bulletin states: “MIT’s policy is to not provide information about members of the MIT community to immigration or law enforcement agents except with the consent of the individual.” It stated that MIT Police “ do not enforce federal immigration laws,” but “generally will not assist in locating individuals who may be the subject of enforcement activities.”
The Institute also provided an update titled “MIT Protocol for Unannounced On-Site Visits by Immigration or Law Enforcement Agents,” which was revised on March 26. According to the update, if an individual encounters immigration enforcement agents, one should direct them to MIT Police for assistance and contact the OGC at mitogc_immigration@mit.edu immediately.
At the rally on March 21, Solomon began with a speech condemning ICE’s deportation of Khalil. “They’re trying to deport him for his free speech,” he said. Afterwards, he read excerpts of Khalil’s letter released on March 18 about the targeting he received from Columbia and the Trump administration because of his role in the Palestine movement. Solomon concluded his speech by emphasizing, “We’ll continue to say no to the suppression of free speech in solidarity of the Palestinian people.”
Following Solomon’s speech, Kai Juarez ’26 read a speech on behalf of a person who wished to remain anonymous. In it, they urged the audience to have humanity and compassion for immigrants and “marginalized peoples,” given that Khalil’s deportation “will only be the beginning.” The speech asked, “Do you think it would be worth it to carry along your entire life knowing that your fellow friend, family, colleague can be imprisoned at any time against their will, without due process, deported back to war and misery?” The speech argued that the audience should “fight for the rights of our immigrant friends” and the broader immigrant community.
Although the OGC and the administration have recently provided guidelines on the possibility of on-campus ICE deportations and immigration advice, Latino Cultural Center (LCC) President Ernesto Gomez ’26 stated, “The administration has not issued a firm, public stance condemning the presence of ICE on campus or committing to tangible protections for affected students.” In an organizational statement sent to The Tech, Gomez, speaking on behalf of the LCC, called for the Institute to commit to “non-cooperation with immigration enforcement actions.”
JCL member Isaac Gendler MCP ’25 gave a speech defending Khalil, stating that Khalil’s involvement in the Palestine movement resonated with Gendler’s Ukrainian Jewish heritage. Khalil is the son of Palestinian refugees who grew up in a Syrian refugee camp. “The biggest lesson I learned from my Ukrainian Jewish history is to help other people fleeing persecution come into this country and make sure they’re never kicked out,” Gendler said.
Gendler criticized Columbia’s complicity in allowing ICE to deport Khalil and the decision by ICE to revoke his green card by prosecuting him under the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. Known as the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 (INA), this legislation was established during the Cold War and used to justify racial and ethnic quotas. Gendler then mentioned that the same act was historically used to “kick out Jewish Holocaust refugees for ‘subversive ideologies,’” these ideologies being communism. “These people claim that they’re taking these actions to fight antisemitism,” Gendler said. “How the hell can you fight antisemitism using an antisemitic law?”
In another speech, Professor of Linguistics Michel DeGraff condemned the arrest of Khalil as an “attack on all of us who dare to resist, who dare to speak truth to power.” DeGraff stressed that he believed Khalil’s reason for arrest was not because of a crime, but rather “because of his courage to speak out.”
In an email to The Tech, DeGraff called for the protection of free speech and academic freedom, specifically for student and faculty members involved in the pro-Palestinian movement. “Let’s also stand against attacks on free speech and academic freedom of students, staff and faculty like myself who dare speak about these linguistic trumperies that aid and abet Israel's genocide of Palestinians and the concomitant repression of anti-genocide voices in academia and beyond,” he wrote.
Institute Office of Communications spokesperson Kimberly Allen wrote in an email to The Tech that MIT has provided resources for the community regarding legal guidance on interactions with ICE and international travel. Allen said that the Division of Student Life (DSL) and Office of the Vice Chancellor (OVC) staff are currently working to inform the community about these resources, in particular those who are most impacted by immigration and international travel.
“Our leaders are focused every day on doing their best for MIT,” Allen said. “That includes affirming the incredible community of students and scholars from across the country and around the world who make up this extraordinary community.” A spokesperson for the OGC did not respond to The Tech’s request for comment by the time of publication.
As of March 27, over 300 international students in the U.S. have had their student visas revoked, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement at a press conference in Suriname. Rubio stated that the revocations stemmed from “harassing fellow students” and “going beyond demonstration.” In the past month, several people involved in the Palestinian movement have been detained, including Georgetown University graduate student Badar Khan Suri on March 17 and Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk on March 25.