NEW YORK (TNND) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash for hosting Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student arrested by ICE, and his family for Ramadan dinner at the mayoral mansion over the weekend.
Mamdani shared a photo on social media on Monday of the dinner, stating he and his wife, Rama, invited Khalil, his wife, Noor, and their son to Gracie Mansion to break fast together.
It also marked one year since the Palestinian activist was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his New York City apartment in front of his pregnant wife.
“For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage,” Mamdani wrote on X. “And yet, even in the face of that cruelty, there has also been beauty. New Yorkers raising their voices in solidarity. A city refusing to look away. Mahmoud won his freedom, and a father was finally reunited with his child.”
Conservative activist Laura Loomer called the dinner “outrageous” and accused Mamdani of being a national security threat and “jihadist.”
Rep. Randy Fine, R-FL, who has openly criticized Mamdani, responded to the post on social media with a graphic that said: “deport.”
Khail was held for over 100 days at a detention center in Louisiana before a federal judge ruled it was likely unconstitutional and ordered his release on bail in June 2025. In January 2026, a federal appeals court ruled the judge who freed him lacked jurisdiction, potentially paving the way for re-arrest or renewed detention as his immigration case remains in legal limbo.
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The Trump administration has publicly suggested that Khalil’s activism indicates sympathy with or alignment with Hamas.
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