Hundreds of protesters Thursday took over the lobby of Trump Tower, NYC, demanding the release of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil who is now in ICE custody in Louisiana as the Donald Trump administration prepares to deport him. The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel” and carried banners reading “Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition” and “Fight Nazis not students,” chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!”
President Donald Trump earlier said Khalil’s arrest was the first of many to come as the White House confirmed that he would indeed face deportation as the administration has a zero-tolerance policy for terrorism. Police who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building warned the protesters to leave before their demonstration. As the demonstrators started and continued their protests, the NYPD made arrests.
Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case.
Trump Tower, because of its association with Donald Trump, often attracts demonstrations both in support of and against Trump. The building’s main entrance opens to a multi-storey atrium that is open to the public and connects visitors to stores and eateries such as the Trump Grill.
Donald Trump expected to invoke Alien Enemies Act of 1798
The mass protest took place as the Trump administration is planning to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 which gives the president authority to target and remove undocumented immigrants. The primary target of this would be Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan crime group operating in the US. Trump ordered his administration to designate TDA as a foreign terrorist organization.
However, the Act would speed up Trump’s mass deportation programs.
