Mahmoud Khalil responds to 'grotesque' charges in new legal filing, says arrest caused 'irreparable harm'

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student detained in March by immigration agents, responded for the first time to the charges against him and described the "irreparable harm" his arrest has had on him and his family.

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student detained in March by immigration agents, responded for the first time to the charges against him and described the "irreparable harm" his arrest has had on him and his family.

"I have suffered—and continue to suffer—as a result of the government’s actions against me," he said in a declaration included in a letter his legal team filed on Thursday in support of his bid for a preliminary injunction in his federal case.

"The most immediate and visceral harms I have experienced directly relate to the birth of my son, Deen. Instead of holding my wife’s hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone," Khalil said. "I listened to her pain, trying to comfort her while 70 other men slept around me. When I heard my son’s first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep."

His wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, was eight months pregnant when Khalil was arrested March 8 at his New York apartment building. She said she had requested his presence at the birth but was denied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Khalil said that not being able to see his family has been "devastating."