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The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Mahmoud Khalil finally allowed to hold one-month-old son for the first time
Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and detained Palestinian activist, was finally allowed to hold his infant son for the first time Thursday – one month after he was born – thanks to a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration's efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a Plexiglass barrier. The visit came before a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since 8 March. The question of whether Khalil would be permitted to hold his newborn child, Deen, or forced to meet him through a barrier had sparked days of legal fighting, triggering claims by Khalil's attorneys that he is being subject to political retaliation by the government. On Wednesday night, a federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, intervened, allowing the meeting to go forward Thursday morning, according to Khalil's attorneys. The judge's order came after federal officials said this week they would oppose his attorney's effort to secure what's known as a 'contact visit' among Khalil; his wife, Noor Abdalla; and their son. Instead, they said Khalil could be allowed a 'non-contact' visit, meaning he would be separated from his wife and son by a plastic divider and not allowed to touch them. 'Granting Khalil this relief of family visitation would effectively grant him a privilege that no other detainee receives,' justice department officials wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. 'Allowing Dr Abdalla and a newborn to attend a legal meeting would turn a legal visitation into a family one.' Brian Acuna, acting director of the Ice field office in New Orleans, said in an accompanying affidavit that it would be 'unsafe to allow Mr Khalil's wife and newborn child into a secured part of the facility'. In their own legal filings, Khalil's attorneys described the government's refusal to grant the visit as 'further evidence of the retaliatory motive behind Mr Khalil's arrest and faraway detention', adding that his wife and son were 'the farthest thing from a security risk'. They noted that Abdalla had traveled nearly 1,500 miles (2,400km) to the remote detention center in hopes of introducing their son to his father. 'This is not just heartless,' Abdalla said of the government's position. 'It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life.' Khalil was the first person to be arrested under Donald Trump's promised crackdown on protesters against the war in Gaza and is one of the few who have remained in custody as his case winds its way through both immigration and federal court. Federal authorities have not accused Khalil of a crime, but they have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in protests against Israel's war in Gaza may have undermined US foreign policy interests. His request to attend his son's 21 April birth was denied last month by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a letter to his son published in the Guardian, Khalil wrote after the birth: 'My heart aches that I could not hold you in my arms and hear your first cry, that I could not unfurl your clenched fists or change your first diaper. 'My absence is not unique,' Khalil added. 'Like other Palestinian fathers, I was separated from you by racist regimes and distant prisons. In Palestine, this pain is part of daily life … The grief your mother and I feel is but one drop in a sea of sorrow that Palestinian families have drowned in for generations.' Farbiarz is currently considering Khalil's petition for release as he appeals a Louisiana immigration judge's ruling that he can be deported from the country. On Thursday, Khalil appeared before that immigration judge, Jamee Comans, as his attorneys presented testimony about the risks he would face if he were to be deported to Syria, where he grew up in a refugee camp, or Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative. His attorneys submitted testimony from Columbia University faculty and students attesting to Khalil's character. In one declaration, Joseph Howley, a classics professor, said he had first introduced Khalil to a university administrator to serve as a spokesperson on behalf of campus protesters, describing him as an 'upstanding, principled and well-respected member of our community. 'I have never known Mahmoud to espouse any anti-Jewish sentiments or prejudices, and have heard him forcefully reject antisemitism on multiple occasions,' Howley wrote. No ruling regarding the appeal was made on Thursday. Comans gave lawyers in the case until 5pm 2 June to submit written closing arguments. Columbia's interim president, Claire Shipman, acknowledged Mahmoud's absence from Wednesday's commencement ceremony and said many students were 'mourning' that he couldn't be present. Her speech drew loud boos from some graduates, along with chants of 'free Mahmoud'. Abdalla accepted a diploma for Khalil on his behalf at an alternative graduation ceremony on Sunday. In the 75 days since his arrest, at least three other international college students have been released from detention after weeks of legal action by their attorneys. They include Rümeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi and Badar Khan Suri. All three have been targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, and have challenged the legality of their detentions with a string of motions and legal briefs in federal district courts. The judges in all of their cases agreed to release them while their immigration court cases played out.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Columbia student activist seized by ICE agents holds month-old son for first time after 10 weeks of detention
Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student activist who was arrested by federal agents for his role leading pro- Palestine demonstrations on campus, met his month-old son for the first time before a crucial immigration court hearing on Thursday. Khalil has been imprisoned in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in Louisiana for more than two months. His wife Noor Abdalla gave birth on April 21. Donald Trump 's administration initially denied Khalil a chance to see his wife and son under a no-contact policy from ICE officials and the private prison group that runs the detention facility, citing unspecified 'safety concerns' surrounding their visit. A federal judge eventually intervened, granting them permission for a 'single, joint meeting … under 'conditions (including as to length of time and confidentiality) that are appropriate for a substantial attorney-client meeting.' Attorneys for Khalil confirmed the visit to The Independent on Thursday morning. Khalil was stripped of his green card and arrested in front of his then-pregnant wife in their New York City apartment building on March 8. He was sent to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, roughly 1,300 miles away from their home in New York. Court filings show his attorneys repeatedly requested permission from ICE for his temporary release to be present for his child's birth, which they denied. Khalil was 'open to any combination of conditions,' including wearing an ankle monitor. On April 11, Louisiana immigration judge Jamee Comans determined Khalil can be deported from the United States based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio 's claim that Khalil's Palestinian advocacy presents a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Judge Comans called the government's argument 'facially reasonable.' Khalil's arrest has sparked international outrage and fears that the Trump administration is crushing political dissent against Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza and U.S. support. Rubio has revoked hundreds of student visas over campus activism, leading to several high-profile arrests of international scholars. The administration has accused Khalil of 'antisemitic activities' and supporting Hamas, which he has flatly rejected. Officials concede he has not committed any crime, but claim he can be removed over what Rubio has characterized as 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.' A two-page memorandum submitted to the immigration court as evidence for his removal admitted his protest activities were 'lawful' but argued that letting him stay in the country would undermine 'U.S. policy to combat antisemitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.' Khalil and his legal team argue his arrest and detention — and attempted removal from the country, which is currently blocked by court order — are retaliatory violations of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law, among other claims. A separate but parallel case over Khalil's arrest is also playing out in a federal courtroom hundreds of miles away in New Jersey. Khalil, who is Palestinian, grew up in a refugee camp in Syria. He entered the United States on a student visa in 2022 to pursue a master's degree in public administration, which he completed last year. In addition to missing the birth of his child, he also missed his graduation from the university this month. Khalil is 'at risk of harm anywhere in the world' following the government's allegations against him, according to his attorney Johnny Sinodis, speaking to reporters before the hearing. Khalil's lawyers are trying to end his case altogether, arguing to the judge in an immigration court hearing in Jena, Louisiana that federal agents arrested him without a warrant on spurious grounds. The government has argued that Khalil tried to flee during his arrest, but video footage from the incident does not show any such attempt. There is 'no evidence presented whatsoever' and no testimony to back up the government's claims surrounding his warrantless arrest and allegations that Khalil tried to escape, 'merely totally false statements from the government,' according to attorney Marc Van Der Hout. The case 'should be thrown out,' he said.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mahmoud Khalil permitted to hold newborn son for the first time despite objections from government
Detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was allowed to hold his one-month-old son for the first time Thursday after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a plexiglass barrier. The visit came ahead of a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March 8. He was first person to be arrested under President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on protesters against the war in Gaza and is one of the few who has remained in custody as his case winds its way through both immigration and federal court. His request to attend his son's April 21 birth was denied last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The question of whether Khalil would be permitted to hold his newborn child or forced to meet him through a barrier had sparked days of legal fighting, triggering claims by Khalil's attorneys that he is being subject to political retaliation by the government. On Wednesday night, a federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, intervened, allowing the meeting to go forward Thursday morning, according to Khalil's attorneys. The judge's order came after federal officials said this week they would oppose his attorney's effort to secure what's known as 'contact visit' between Khalil, his wife Noor Abdalla and their son Deen. Instead, they said Khalil could be allowed a 'non-contact' visit, meaning he would be separated from his wife and son by a plastic divider and not allowed to touch them. 'Granting Khalil this relief of family visitation would effectively grant him a privilege that no other detainee receives,' Justice Department officials wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. 'Allowing Dr. Abdalla and a newborn to attend a legal meeting would turn a legal visitation into a family one.' Brian Acuna, acting director of the ICE field office in New Orleans, said in an accompanying affidavit that it would be 'unsafe to allow Mr. Khalil's wife and newborn child into a secured part of the facility.' In their own legal filings, Khalil's attorneys described the government's refusal to grant the visit as 'further evidence of the retaliatory motive behind Mr. Khalil's arrest and faraway detention,' adding that his wife and son were 'the farthest thing from a security risk.' They noted that Abdalla had traveled nearly 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) to the remote detention center in hopes of introducing their son to his father. 'This is not just heartless,' Abdalla said of the government's position. 'It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life.' Farbiarz is currently considering Khalil's petition for release as he appeals a Louisiana immigration judge's ruling that he can be deported from the country. Federal authorities have not accused Khalil of a crime, but have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in protests against Israel's war in Gaza may have undermined U.S. foreign policy interests. Khalil is scheduled to appear before that immigration judge, Jamee Comans, for a routine hearing on Thursday. Attorneys for Khalil said it was unclear whether the baby would be permitted to attend the hearing.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Cruel and inhuman': Mahmoud Khalil's wife says ICE denied him permission to hold their newborn son
Mahmoud Khalil and his wife Noor Abdalla The wife of detained Columbia University pro-Palestinian graduate Mahmoud Khalil has accused the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) of not granting him permission to hold his newborn son, leaving him with no choice but to see the baby from behind a glass at the detention facility in Louisiana. This was the first meeting between the father and the infant as Khalil, in detention since March and facing deportation, was denied permission to be with his wife, US national Noor Abdalla, for the birth of their child. Their son was born in April. "I am furious at the cruelty and inhumanity of this system that dares to call itself just," Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, said in a statement. "After flying over a thousand miles with our newborn son, his very first flight, all so his father could finally hold him in his arms, ICE has denied us even this most basic human right. This is not just heartless. It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prison and bombs, denied dignity, denied life. We will fight until Mahmoud is home," she added. The statement noted that Abdalla flew 1,400 miles from New York City to Center Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana, to meet Mahmoud. The facility's refusal to allow Khalil to hold his child is in violation of ICE's own directives, including one which "affirms the importance of minimizing disruptions to family life and preserving parental rights," it further stated.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Mahmoud Khalil blocked from holding son for first time by Ice, lawyers say
Mahmoud Khalil, the detained Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist, was not allowed to hold his newborn son after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials refused to allow a contact visit between him and his family, his lawyers said on Wednesday. Instead, Khalil, 30, was forced to meet his month-old baby for the first time behind glass, after his wife, Noor Abdalla, traveled from New York to the Louisiana detention facility where he has been detained since March, his legal team said. Ice officials and a private prison contractor denied the family's request for a contact visit, citing the detention center's no-contact visitation policy and unspecified 'security concerns', lawyers said. Abdalla, a US citizen who gave birth to their first child last month while Khalil was in detention, said she was 'furious at the cruelty and inhumanity of this system that dares to call itself just'. 'After flying over a thousand miles to Louisiana with our newborn son, his very first flight, all so his father could finally hold him in his arms, Ice has denied us even this most basic human right,' she said in a statement. 'This is not just heartless. It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse.' The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department had previously denied Khalil's request to be at his wife's side to attend the birth of their son in New York, a move that Abdalla described as 'a purposeful decision by Ice to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer'. Instead, he was only able to experience his child's birth via a telephone call. Khalil, a legal permanent resident, or US green-card holder, was arrested in New York on 8 March in the first in a string of Ice arrests targeting pro-Palestinian students and scholars, and put in detention without due process. In a letter to his son published in the Guardian, Khalil wrote shortly after the birth: 'My heart aches that I could not hold you in my arms and hear your first cry, that I could not unfurl your clenched fists or change your first diaper.' 'My absence is not unique,' he continued. 'Like other Palestinian fathers, I was separated from you by racist regimes and distant prisons. In Palestine, this pain is part of daily life … The grief your mother and I feel is but one drop in a sea of sorrow that Palestinian families have drowned in for generations.' The current president of Columbia University in New York, Claire Shipman, where Khalil had been finishing up his graduate studies, was booed and heckled on both Tuesday and Wednesday by graduates at their commencement ceremonies who also were furious that Khalil was in detention. Many chanted 'free Mahmoud', as Shipman acknowledged their frustration. The Trump administration is using obscure immigration law to make extraordinary claims in cases such as Khalil's that it can summarily detain and deport people for constitutionally protected free speech if they are deemed adverse to US foreign policy. Khalil is Palestinian and was born in a refugee camp in Syria. His wife accepted a graduate diploma on his behalf at an alternative graduation ceremony in New York on Sunday, while holding their baby.
