The Secular Buddhist Network has played an important role in the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy (BCD), a non-denominational Buddhist non-profit organization organized in March 2025 to serve as a vehicle for Buddhists to support democratic norms, institutions, and processes in their moment of peril. BCD's over 750 members come from a variety of Buddhist traditions including Theravada, Insight Meditation, Zen, Vajrayana, Pure Land, Soka Gakkai, and Secular Buddhism.

The BCD has joined together with 35 other religious organizations as a party to an amicus curiae brief in the case of Mahmoud Khalil v. Donald Trump, William Joyce, Yolanda Pittman, Caleb Vitello, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, and Pam Bondi before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The amicus brief petitions for Mahmoud’s release from unlawful detention.

The following religious organizations signed on to the brief: The Beacon, Bend The Arc, Berkeley Zen Center, Buddhist Coalition for Democracy, Cece Jones-Davis, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji, Dharma Heart Zen, The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, The Episcopal Diocese Of New York, Faithful America, First Spanish United Methodist Church (the People's Church), East Harlem Heart Circle Zen, Hindus for Human Rights, HopeBuilds, LLC Immigration Law & Justice New York, Interfaith Center Of New York (ICNY), Jewish Center For Justice, Jikoji Zen Center, Masjid Al Haram, Mid-City Zen, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, New Jewish Narrative, New York State Council of Churches, OKC First Church (Oklahoma City), Pax Christi, New York State Presbytery Of New York City (PCUSA), Religious Nationalisms Project, Riverside Church, New York, St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, UCC Movement for Palestinian Solidarity, Union Theological Seminary, Upaya Zen Center, Village Zendo.

Khalil, a student activist at Columbia University and a lead negotiator in pro-Palestinian protests and campus occupations during the Gaza war, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8, 2025 and taken to the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana. The agents were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke Khalil's student visa and deport him from the U.S. When the agents were informed that Khalil is a lawful permanent resident, they said this status would be revoked instead.

The detention is part of the Trump administration's effort to threaten and punish students who are pro-Palestinian and, in general, to stifle freedom of speech and assembly. There are no criminal charges against Khalil; the government claimed that his speech and activities were supportive of Hamas and inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy.

You can donate to Mahmoud Khalil's defense fund by clicking here.