Isra Hirsi, the daughter of "Squad" member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), championed a fundraiser supporting Mahmoud Khalil, the student activist and foreign national facing deportation by the Trump administration over his pro-Hamas campus organizing.
The online fundraiser was launched after ICE took Khalil into custody Saturday night after the State Department revoked his visa and green card. By Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser had raised nearly $270,000, surpassing its $250,000 goal and prompting administrators to set a new target of $500,000.
Hirsi, a far-left activist, anti-Israel agitator, and Barnard College senior, posted a screenshot of the fundraiser with a link to the webpage on her Instagram story Tuesday afternoon, which at the time had raised about $115,000.
The money "will help Mahmoud and his family’s urgent and evolving needs as we work to secure his release and support his family during this incredibly difficult time," according to the fundraising page. The funds will go toward Khalil’s legal defense, secure bail if he becomes eligible for release, assist his family, and cover medical expenses. They will also bankroll "long-term justice efforts" to "hold those responsible for his unlawful detention accountable."
The fundraiser ends by noting, "Mahmoud has dedicated his life to fighting for justice. Now, he needs us to fight for him. Let’s stand together and bring him home."
On Monday, a New York judge temporarily halted Khalil’s deportation proceedings while the federal court hears a petition challenging his arrest. In the petition, Khalil asserted that there was "no basis" for his arrest and subsequent detention. Judge Jesse Furman on Wednesday directed attorneys for both parties to submit a joint letter on Friday outlining further plans for arguments in the case.
Hirsi posted another Instagram story throwing shade at university faculty who remained silent following Khalil’s arrest. She shared a post saying "the academic cowers" and added the caption, "if you are wondering where our esteemed faculty are … shameful behavior."
Hirsi has a history of taking radical positions, becoming heavily involved in the anti-Israel movement after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack. She has participated in protests at Columbia University, Barnard’s sister school, and was arrested and suspended in April after refusing to vacate an illegal encampment on the Ivy League school’s campus.
Alongside Khalil, Hirsi is an organizer with Columbia University Apartheid Divest and with Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, two student groups that have endorsed "armed resistance" and praised terrorists. Both groups also led the recent storming of two Barnard campus buildings, during which radical activists disseminated Hamas pamphlets and clashed with security guards, sending one to the hospital. Video footage placed Khalil at the most recent building storming.
Following her suspension, Hirsi complained in a Teen Vogue interview that she was left homeless and without food. On the first anniversary of Hamas’s attack that killed over 1,000 Israelis, Hirsi posted a picture to her Instagram account with the caption, "Resistance is glorious, we will be victorious."
In October, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Hirsi, whose parents are Somali immigrants, had received "reparations" payments from her white friends on Juneteenth nearly every year since 2019. Reparations advocates typically push for payments to descendants of African Americans enslaved in the United States, while Juneteenth commemorates the nation’s 1865 end of slavery.
Hirsi did not respond to a request for comment.
Anti-Israel agitators in New York, meanwhile, clashed with police Tuesday during a heated protest against Khalil’s detention, leading to several arrests. The demonstration was part of a coordinated nationwide walkout by students and faculty at elite colleges across the country. Among the crowd was Aidan Parisi, a Columbia graduate student who was arrested last spring for storming Hamilton Hall and suspended for his role in an event featuring terror-tied speakers who called for violence against Jews. Also present was Maryam Iqbal, a Barnard student and vocal anti-Israel activist, who was arrested alongside Parisi during last spring’s illegal encampments at Columbia.
At Columbia, a smaller crowd of about 40 faculty and students walked out of their classes and assembled outside the Low Memorial Library. The protesters called out the interim Columbia president, chanting, "We will never let this slide, Katrina Armstrong you can’t hide" and "Katrina Armstrong what do you say, how many boots did you lick today."
In a Wednesday statement, Armstrong reiterated her support for all Columbia students.
"I stand by my students, all of my students. I support their right to express their views and to participate in open and respectful dialogue and debate," she said. "I feel the same responsibility for the wellbeing of all Columbia students as I do for my patients as their doctor. There is nothing more important to me."