After being held for 104 days at a Louisiana detention center, Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil was released on bail.
“There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish Mr. Khalil,” said Judge Michael E. Farbiarz before ordering the former Columbia University student’s release. “And of course that would be unconstitutional.”
“After more than three months, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father,” said Khalil’s wife Dr. Noor Abdalla. “We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians. But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family, and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom.”
“It is an enormous relief that Palestinian human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil can return to New York while his case proceeds. Now, Mr. Khalil will thankfully be reunited with his wife and newborn — a bond that never should have been broken in the first place,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director at the NYCLU. “Ideas are not illegal, and no administration should ever incarcerate people for expressing opinions they disagree with. We are heartened and relieved that Mr. Khalil can return to his family, community, and counsel, and the NYCLU will continue to fight back against Trump’s unconstitutional attacks on free speech and dissent.”
In his first broadcast interview, Khalil spoke with ABC News’s Linsey Davis about his time in custody and the ongoing fight for Palestine.
At one point, Davis asked Khalil what he would say to Donald Trump if he sat down with him.
“My main message is that he vowed that he would set the Palestinian movement in this country 20 years back during his campaign. But what he did to me actually advanced the cause of Palestinian liberation for many years,” said Khalil.
He also made this point at a rally outside Columbia shortly after his release.
“The wave of repression that the Trump administration initiated with my detention was intended to silence the movement for Palestinian liberation,” he told the crowd. “It was intended to scare people into silence. It was intended to distract us from the fact that the U.S. government is a killing machine in Palestine and across the world. But they completely failed. Millions of people spoke up even louder, that it is our responsibility to end this genocide, no matter the personal cost, no matter the personal cost. And that’s exactly what I will continue trying to do as long, so long as I’m able, so long as I am breathing.”
Khalil is not the only high-profile detainee to be released from custody recently. Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, and Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri have all been let out.
These are major setbacks for the Trump administration, and Khalil’s attorneys say they’re optimistic about the case from here.
“We are relieved that Mr. Khalil can finally return to his family and community,” said Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey. “This is an important step in vindicating Mr. Khalil’s rights as he continues to be unlawfully targeted by the federal government for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. We’re confident he will ultimately prevail in the fight for his freedom.”
Khalil’s release did not occur in a vacuum. He is now back home in New York City, where a BDS supporter and longtime Israel critic has a legitimate chance to become the next mayor. A new Quinnipiac poll shows sympathy for Israelis is at an all-time low among Americans, while sympathy for Palestinians is at an all-time high. A Economist/YouGov poll found that 60% of Americans oppose the U.S. becoming involved in Israel’s war on Iran while just 16% back further intervention.
The Trump administration’s fight to stifle dissent will inevitably face more opposition, and possibly more legal defeats, in the coming weeks
Social media screening
Despite these developments, Trump hasn’t let up on his crackdown.
Last week, the State Department unveiled new social media screening rules for student visas.
The State Department wants U.S. diplomats to screen applicants for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.” It also wants embassies to flag any “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security” and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”
Hamas is specifically cited as an example of “foreign terrorists”, but it’s safe to say that any support for Gaza will be meet the criteria.
The State Department says it’s looking for “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism.”
Finding such evidence doesn’t mean that the visa application would immediately be rejected, but it would trigger a wider review to determine whether the person would abide by U.S. laws and only engage in “activities consistent with his nonimmigrant visa status.”
The U.S. Embassy in Dublin immediately announced that all future applicants will have to hand over “all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years” and set all their social media profiles to public, per the new guidelines.
Asked about the new rules by reporters, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “I don’t approve of them, and I don’t agree with them. There is an issue around freedom of speech, but it’s more the atmosphere that’s created by these measures, the fear and the anxiety that young people will now experience traveling.”
Further Reading
- ABC News: Mahmoud Khalil, in 1st broadcast interview, says he’ll continue to ‘advocate for what’s right’
- AP News: What to know about activist Mahmoud Khalil and his release from immigration detention
- Mother Jones: Mahmoud Khalil, Finally Free, Speaks Out
- Politico: State Department unveils social media screening rules for all student visa applicants
- The Guardian: New US visa rules will force foreign students to unlock social media profiles
- BBC: Palestine Action group to be banned, home secretary confirms
- The Guardian: Israel kills innocent Palestinians. Activists spray-paint a plane. Guess which the UK government calls terrorism
- Columbia Spectator: University senators raise concerns over Butler Library disciplinary action at plenary session
