On Saturday, March 9, 2025, plain-clothed ICE agents forced their way into a residence owned by Columbia University and abducted Mahmoud Khalil, a Green Card-holding permanent resident who had been participating in protests against the war on Gaza and the occupation of Palestine. The Department of Homeland Security has since reported that the order to detain and deport Khalil came specifically from the White House. He remains in ICE custody at present.

The New Sanctuary Coalition joined many community organizations — including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Shut It Down for Palestine, the People’s Forum, Desis Rising Up and Moving, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation — for an emergency rally held the following Monday at Federal Plaza. New Sanctuary leader Ravi Ragbir joined the rally's organizers at the Thomas Paine Park fountain and delivered remarks to the crowd of approximately 3,000, discussing the similarities between ICE’s kidnapping of Khalil and their attempted deportation of Ragbir in 2018. He made it clear that both he and Khalil had been targeted for speaking out, and that the immigrant community and its allies will not be intimidated by ICE’s attempts to instill fear. He pointed out that ICE is a civil agency with no jurisdiction over citizens, and those with citizenship status should use it to resist and repel ICE’s attempts at detaining and deporting our Friends.

Ragbir was interviewed at the rally by Gothamist. Read their coverage here.

Ravi Ragbir and the Rev. Dr. Robert Foltz-Morrison