The Trump administration denied Mahmoud Khalil , a legal permanent US resident and prominent pro-Palestinian activist , permission to attend the birth of his first child in New York on Monday, despite urgent legal appeals and proposed safeguards for his temporary release from immigration detention .
Khalil, 30, first gained national attention as an organiser of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year. A doctoral candidate in Middle Eastern studies, he became a vocal figure in the student-led movement calling for divestment from Israeli companies and an end to what activists described as university complicity in the Gaza conflict. His speeches condemning both antisemitism and anti-Palestinian hate earned him support from a wide cross-section of students, though they also drew the scrutiny of federal authorities under the Trump administration.
Khalil has been held for over a month in a detention centre in Jena, Louisiana. His lawyers had requested a two-week monitored furlough so he could be with his wife, Dr Noor Abdalla, for the delivery. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the request within an hour.
“A two-week furlough in this civil detention matter would be both reasonable and humane so that both parents can be present for the birth of their first child,” Khalil’s lawyers wrote. They proposed electronic monitoring and daily check-ins to ensure compliance.
But Melissa Harper, director of the New Orleans field off ice of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), summarily denied the request, saying it had been reviewed “after consideration of the submitted information and a review of your client’s case.”
Khalil was ultimately able to speak to his wife by phone during parts of the delivery. Both mother and child are healthy, according to their legal team.
Dr Abdalla issued a statement on Monday, calling ICE’s refusal “a purposeful decision... to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.”
“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud. ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom,” she said.
Khalil’s lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout, called the denial “utterly punitive,” emphasising that no evidence had been presented that his client was either a danger to the community or a flight risk.
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to queries about the decision.
Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists on US campuses. He was arrested last month outside his New York apartment in what lawyers have described as a coordinated sweep against demonstrators. In a controversial move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a Cold War-era provision to initiate deportation proceedings , arguing Khalil’s presence in the US posed a threat to American foreign policy.
Rubio claimed Khalil had enabled the spread of antisemitism and accused him of links to Hamas — an accusation that Khalil and his lawyers have categorically denied. They point to his repeated public condemnation of antisemitism and insist there is no evidence tying him to any proscribed groups.
An immigration judge in Louisiana has since ruled that Khalil can be deported based on Rubio’s memo, but a New Jersey federal judge has stayed his removal while constitutional challenges are considered. Motions for bail and a transfer back to the East Coast remain pending in court.
The refusal to grant even a temporary release for the birth of his son is being seen by civil liberties groups as part of a broader pattern of punitive immigration enforcement targeting dissent during Trump’s second term.
Khalil, 30, first gained national attention as an organiser of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year. A doctoral candidate in Middle Eastern studies, he became a vocal figure in the student-led movement calling for divestment from Israeli companies and an end to what activists described as university complicity in the Gaza conflict. His speeches condemning both antisemitism and anti-Palestinian hate earned him support from a wide cross-section of students, though they also drew the scrutiny of federal authorities under the Trump administration.
Khalil has been held for over a month in a detention centre in Jena, Louisiana. His lawyers had requested a two-week monitored furlough so he could be with his wife, Dr Noor Abdalla, for the delivery. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the request within an hour.
“A two-week furlough in this civil detention matter would be both reasonable and humane so that both parents can be present for the birth of their first child,” Khalil’s lawyers wrote. They proposed electronic monitoring and daily check-ins to ensure compliance.
But Melissa Harper, director of the New Orleans field off ice of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), summarily denied the request, saying it had been reviewed “after consideration of the submitted information and a review of your client’s case.”
Khalil was ultimately able to speak to his wife by phone during parts of the delivery. Both mother and child are healthy, according to their legal team.
Dr Abdalla issued a statement on Monday, calling ICE’s refusal “a purposeful decision... to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.”
“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud. ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom,” she said.
Khalil’s lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout, called the denial “utterly punitive,” emphasising that no evidence had been presented that his client was either a danger to the community or a flight risk.
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to queries about the decision.
Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists on US campuses. He was arrested last month outside his New York apartment in what lawyers have described as a coordinated sweep against demonstrators. In a controversial move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a Cold War-era provision to initiate deportation proceedings , arguing Khalil’s presence in the US posed a threat to American foreign policy.
Rubio claimed Khalil had enabled the spread of antisemitism and accused him of links to Hamas — an accusation that Khalil and his lawyers have categorically denied. They point to his repeated public condemnation of antisemitism and insist there is no evidence tying him to any proscribed groups.
An immigration judge in Louisiana has since ruled that Khalil can be deported based on Rubio’s memo, but a New Jersey federal judge has stayed his removal while constitutional challenges are considered. Motions for bail and a transfer back to the East Coast remain pending in court.
The refusal to grant even a temporary release for the birth of his son is being seen by civil liberties groups as part of a broader pattern of punitive immigration enforcement targeting dissent during Trump’s second term.
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