Pro-Palestinian student activist arrested by ICE releases statement

The activist of Columbia College, arrested by federal immigration authorities and confronted with doable deportation about his alleged assist for Hamas, has launched a press release from the detention facility the place he’s held.

Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old inexperienced card holder who’s married to an American citizen, was arrested on March 8 by immigration and customs enforcement officers (ICE).

In a single letter Khalil, launched by his attorneys on Tuesday, characterised his arrest as ‘indicative of anti-Palestinian racism’. He additionally blamed the federal government of Columbia, together with former college President Minouche Shafik, who was criticized as a result of he didn’t reply sufficiently to accusations of anti -Semitic conduct of activists on campus earlier than lastly resigned.

“My unjust detention is a sign of anti-Palestinian racism that each Biden and Trump administrations have proven within the final 16 months, as a result of the USA have continued to offer weapons to kill Palestinians and stop worldwide intervention,” wrote Khalil. “For many years, anti-Palestinian racism has had efforts to broaden American legal guidelines and practices which might be used to violently suppress Palestinians, Arab People and different communities. That’s exactly why I’m the goal.”

‘Safer With out Him’: Columbia Scholar Claims Classmate arrested by Ice ‘Hates America’

President Trump, Mahmoud Khalil and demonstrators (Getty Photos)

Khalil, who performed an essential function within the anti-Israeli protests in Columbia, fights in opposition to his deportation within the courts. Not lengthy after he was arrested, a choose briefly blocked the Trump authorities to deport him.

In one of many first authorized victories for Khalil, a choose ordered his deportation case on Wednesday in New Jersey, not Louisiana, the place he’s held. The choose known as a legislation that required the case in the identical jurisdiction the place Khalil’s attorneys introduced a lawsuit for the primary time to problem his detention.

The Trump governance mentioned earlier that there was a mattress bidding within the detention facility in New Jersey, close to Khalil’s arrest, which suggests they need to ship him to Louisiana.

Rubio defends deportations of Hamas supporters after the arrest of the Columbia College activist

“Though I’m ready for authorized choices that steadiness the way forward for my spouse and youngster, those that make my focusing on doable stay comfy at Columbia College,” Khalil wrote in his letter. “Presidents Shafik, Armstrong and Dean Yarhi Milo laid the muse for the US authorities to give attention to randomly pro-Palestinian college students and permit viral doxing campaigns-based on racism and disinformation.

NYPD officers patrol as pro-Palestine demonstrators display exterior the campus of Columbia College in New York Metropolis on Thursday, April 18, 2024. A number of college students have been arrested whereas officers cleaned up a campus garden. (Peter Gerber for Fox Information Digital)

Khalil mentioned his arrest was each a direct insult to his first change rights and a broader try by the Trump authorities to suppress ‘totally different opinions’. He wrote that “within the coming weeks” college students, activists and elected officers “need to unite to defend the proper to protest for Palestine.”

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“I’ve all the time believed that my responsibility shouldn’t be solely to free myself from the oppressor, but additionally to free my oppressors from their hatred and worry.”