Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and green card holder, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York City on March 8th, 2019. He was taken into custody for his involvement in pro-Palestinian campus protests. In a letter dictated by phone from a detention facility in Louisiana, Khalil described himself as a "political prisoner."
Khalil's main concern at the time of his arrest was for the safety of his wife, Noor Abdalla, who was eight months pregnant. He feared that she would be arrested as well, as ICE agents had threatened to do so. Khalil was held overnight at an ICE field office in Lower Manhattan before being transferred to the Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey. There, he slept on the ground and was refused a blanket despite his request.
Khalil believes that the Trump administration is targeting him as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. He fears that visa-holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will be targeted for their political beliefs.
Khalil's attorneys and the Justice Department are currently sparring in court over the Trump administration's decision to send him to an immigration lockup in Louisiana. The government claims that he could not be detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center due to a bedbug infestation. However, Khalil says that he did not hear anyone mention bedbugs while he was held there. He fears that he was being moved to Louisiana in order to be deported.
Khalil is currently being held in a detention facility in Louisiana. He hopes to be released on bail so that he can witness the birth of his first child. His lawyers are asking a judge to widen the effect of any order to stop the U.S. government from "arresting, detaining, and removing noncitizens who engage in constitutionally protected expressive activity in the United States in support of Palestinian rights or critical of Israel.