Mahmoud Khalil says he was 'targeted' for pro-Palestinian beliefs in letter from ICE facility
Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil says he was "targeted" for advocating for the Palestinian cause in a new letter from a detention facility, as a judge ruled his challenge to his arrest should proceed in New Jersey court.
Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil says he was "targeted" for advocating for the Palestinian cause in a new letter from a detention facility, as a judge ruled his challenge to his arrest should proceed in New Jersey court.
"I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law," Khalil said in the letter dictated over the phone to his family Monday.
The 30-year-old legal U.S. resident, who played a major role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last spring, was arrested by federal immigration agents in New York on March 8. He was briefly detained in New Jersey and transferred to a facility in Jena, Louisiana, where he remains. He is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent and is married to a U.S. citizen.
Khalil had filed a challenge to his detention in a Manhattan federal court. On Wednesday morning, a judge denied the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss his challenge — but allowed the case to move to New Jersey. Khalil has yet to be accused of a crime.
Judge Jesse M. Furman said that Khalil's allegations are "serious" and “warrant careful review." The judge noted that when Khalil’s lawyer filed the petition, he was detained in New Jersey, not New York.
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