There is no beef, legally speaking at least. Khalil is a legal US resident with a green card who was illegally arrested for taking part in pro-palestinian protests on Columbia campus when he was a student in 2024.

He was illegally arrested and now illegally detained as a result of the Trump administration’s push against immigration. It’s is also retaliatory action against pro-palestinian protestors at large. Or even just the campuses where the protests happened. This also occurred after Columbia University had federal funding cut because of theses protests. This was also a retaliatory action by the Trump administration: despite Columbia University acting harshly against protestors in 2024 when they took place.