As of his arrest on March 8 in Manhattan, Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Syrian-born Palestinian, has an uncertain future ahead of him. He has the green card that gives him permanent residency in the United States. He has filed an asylum application and is now fighting for his release after being held without a warrant. When immigration agents arrested him, this enforcement action generated widespread outcry. Most are undoubtedly enraged by his recent decision to lead pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University.
On the evening of his detainment, at least ten agents in unmarked vehicles rushed to the scene. They arrested Khalil while he was waiting in the lobby of his student apartment building. When confronted, these agents first falsely asserted that they had a warrant for his arrest, later conceding that they did not have such a warrant. Khalil’s lawyers are currently pursuing all possible avenues to challenge the legality of his detention. They’re challenging the government’s argument that he’s a flight risk.
“This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States,” said Amy Greer, one of his attorneys.
Khalil has been locked up in an increasingly rash crackdown by the Trump administration. Officials have tried to conflate pro-Palestinian protests as support for terrorism and antisemitism. The government’s move to deport Khalil is justified by its claims that his presence has “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States. It’s important to mention that, thus far, Khalil has not been charged with a crime.
Khalil is married to his American wife, Noor Abdalla. She welcomed the couple’s first child into the world on April 21, while Khalil was still in immigration detention. The timing of his arrest has caused even more alarm among advocates for immigrant rights and due process.
“The government’s admission is astounding, and it is completely outrageous that they tried to assert to the immigration judge — and the world — in their initial filing of the arrest report that there was an arrest warrant when there was none,” remarked Marc Van Der Hout, another attorney representing Khalil.
Eyewitness accounts reveal that Khalil was calm when apprehended. “That night, I was on the phone with Mahmoud, Noor, and even the arresting agent,” Greer recounted.
As Greer noted shortly after the incident, things were dangerously close to boiling over. She explained that even in the face of a dozen plainclothes officers who obviously wanted to kidnap him and visibly did not produce a warrant after several attempts, Mahmoud kept his cool, complied with their instructions and remained courteous. Today, though, we’re beginning to understand why they never showed Mahmoud that warrant — because they didn’t have one.
Khalil’s legal team has been fighting tooth and nail to get bail. They are asking his return to him home state of New Jersey from Louisiana, where he is currently jailed. These allegations completely deny the accused of being a flight risk, calling the claim “patent lie.”
Khalil’s family continues to be torn apart by his detainment. It raises critical questions about government accountability and the role of the government in immigration enforcement. Now advocates are circling the wagons, fighting back against what they see as an unlawful arrest influenced by political agendas. Khalil’s case has focused attention on the continued pushback against these Trump-era immigration policies.
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