NEW YORK CITY ― Attorneys representing Mahmoud Khalil are fighting to release the prominent Palestinian activist from detention, after federal agents arrested the green card holder for peacefully leading anti-war student protests last year on Columbia University’s campus.
Lawyers for Khalil attended a hearing at the Thurgood Marshall courthouse on Wednesday for their emergency petition to return the Columbia graduate to New York City, where the case challenging his arrest’s validity is pending.
Despite living in New York, Khalil is currently being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana. He has not been criminally charged.
The government did not yet decide whether they believe jurisdiction should be in New York or Louisiana. Khalil’s attorneys requested a privileged call for March 20, saying they “literally have not been able to confer with our client once since he was taken off the streets of New York City.”
Judge Jesse Furman ― who previously ruled against deporting Khalil until his habeas case is reviewed ― said he will allow one privileged call on Wednesday between Khalil and his attorneys, and another one on Thursday.
Khalil’s legal team said it will next file an amended complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union that further details the unlawful nature of his arrest, and will “pursue an expedited schedule” to have the court hear his case for being released.
“Every day that Mahmoud spends in detention in Louisiana is a day too long. We and he fully intend to vindicate not just his First Amendment rights, but those of all Americans, frankly, and all lawful permanent residents and anybody who wants to speak out,” Ramzi Kassem, one of Khalil’s attorneys, told reporters as protesters could be heard loudly calling for the activist’s freedom.
“It simply cannot be the case that you can be disappeared at night off the streets of New York City simply because the current U.S. government, the current administration at the White House, dislikes what you have to say,” he continued. “That is not just un-American, it’s also unacceptable.”
On Saturday night, plainclothes agents with the Department of Homeland Security followed Khalil and his wife, who were walking to their university-owned apartment after breaking their Ramadan fast with friends. Agents entered their building without a judicial warrant, threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife for refusing to leave his side, put the activist in an unmarked vehicle and left without telling neither his wife nor attorney his whereabouts.
“My husband was kidnapped from our home, and it’s shameful that the United States government continues to hold him because he stood for the rights and lives of his people,” Khalil’s wife said in a Wednesday statement read by attorney Shezza Abboushidallal. The activist’s wife is a U.S. citizen and expecting their first child next month.
“His disappearance has devastated our lives. Every day without him is filled with uncertainty – not just for me, but for our entire family and community. Our loved ones are struggling with the pain and fear of his sudden absence,” she continued. “And yet we are not alone. So many who know and love Mahmoud have come together, refusing to stay silent. Their support is a testament to his character and to the deep injustice of what is being done to him.”
Attorneys also said they’re aware of “several” other cases of ICE approaching Columbia students. One day before his abduction, Khalil had reportedly asked the school for protection from harassment and potential ICE interference. Columbia’s president did not respond to his email, according to Zeteo.
Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that his administration intends to deport Khalil, accusing him without evidence of supporting Hamas, and alleging he led antisemitic protests on the university’s New York City campus last year. During the protests, Khalil served as a peaceful negotiator between the school and students participating in what they called the Gaza solidarity encampment.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had acted to revoke Khalil’s green card in the name of national security. A little-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows Rubio to deport any non-citizen he personally believes may have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the country.
“The United States government has taken the position that it can arrest, detain and seek to deport a lawful permanent resident exclusively because of his peaceful, constitutionally protected activism ― in this case, activism in support of Palestinian human rights and an end to the genocide in Gaza,” said Baher Azmy, a member of Khalil’s counsel and the legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights.
“The government takes the position that because the secretary of state finds his dissent unacceptable or contrary to U.S. foreign policy, he can be deported,” he continued. “It’s largely unprecedented save for ugly historical precedents, including the Red Scare and McCarthyism. That’s what we’re talking about.”
