Wife details arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil as judge blocks deportation


The wife of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil said she and her husband were returning to their apartment after breaking their Ramadan fast when immigration agents confronted them and arrested Khalil in a case that has prompted protests calling for his release.
The wife of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil said she and her husband were returning to their apartment after breaking their Ramadan fast when immigration agents confronted them and arrested Khalil in a case that has prompted protests calling for his release.
In a statement Tuesday night released through a spokesperson working on the case with Khalil’s lawyers, Khalil's wife, who was not named, detailed the arrest and asked supporters to continue their pressure campaign to hasten a possible release as the couple is expecting a child in April.
Her plea came as protesters demanded the release of the Palestinian activist for a second straight day. President Donald Trump said his arrest is the first of many.
“US immigration ripped my soul from me,” Khalil’s wife said in Tuesday night’s statement. “Instead of putting together our nursery and washing baby clothes in anticipation of our first child, I am left sitting in our apartment, wondering when Mahmoud will get a chance to call me from a detention center.”
Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and green card holder, was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from his university-owned apartment Saturday night after he was told his student visa was being revoked, his attorney, Amy Greer, has said.
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