Mahmoud Khalil, The Pro-Palestine Columbia Student Kidnapped By US Immigration, Has Finally Been Freed
"Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine again."
Pro-Palestine Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was finally released after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kidnapped and tried to deport him in March.
30-year-old Khalil, who played a key role in pro-Palestine student encampments in Columbia, had been facing an intense campaign calling for his deportation, and he had asked Columbia for support but the school did not respond.
On March 8 ICE then arrested Khalil — a permanent US resident — in the lobby of his dorm in New York City.
ICE then moved him to a detention facility in Louisiana without informing his legal team.
Following Khalil’s arrest, hundreds of people held protests demanding his release, saying that he had done nothing wrong and only utilized his free speech to gather support for Palestine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Khalil faced deportation for his involvement in pro-Palestine protests, which he labeled as “antisemitic” and a “threat” to US foreign relations.
US President Donald Trump also claimed that Khalil is linked to Hamas and that the US would deport him.
However, on Friday, June 20, a federal judge ordered authorities to release Khalil on bail after a district judge ruled that there was no reason for the US to continue his detention since he did not pose a “flight risk” or “a danger to the community”.
Khalil is still facing deportation proceedings.
Khalil has since reunited in New Jersey with his wife Dr. Noor Abdalla and their newborn son, who was born during his detention, and has promised to continue to speak up for Palestine and Palestinians against Israel’s genocide.
"Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine again,” he said, according to Reuters.
Ashley Lee
