Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil says he was “targeted” to defend the Palestinian cause in a new letter from the Louisiana Detention Center, who is being held after being arrested by federal immigration authorities earlier this month.
“I will wake up on cold mornings and spend a long time witnessing ongoing quiet injustice against so many people who have been eliminated from law protection,” Halil said in a letter ordered by phone on Monday.
The 30-year-old legal resident, who played a major role in the pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University last spring, was arrested by a federal immigration agent in New York on March 8th. He is a Palestinian Algerian citizen and is married to a US citizen.
In the letter, Halil described himself as a “political prisoner,” detailing the unpleasant situation at the facility and condemned Israel’s new attacks in the Gaza Strip.
“Who has the rights? It’s certainly not the human beings crowded with cells here. It’s not the Senegalese I met, but the one who was taken away from Limbo’s freedom, not the 21-year-old detainee I met, but the one who stepped into this country at the age of nine.” “Justice escapes the outline of the country’s immigration facilities.”
He also described his arrest at a Columbia University-owned residence, recalling that a Department of Homeland Security agents refused to provide a warrant and “submitted my wife and me when we returned from dinner.”
He said he was handcuffed and shoved into an unmarked car.
“At that moment, my only concern was Noor’s safety,” he said in a letter about his wife. “My agent threatened to arrest her for not leaving my side, so I didn’t know if she would be taken either.”
After her arrest, Halil said she was taken to a facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she was slept on the ground and refused a blanket.
“My arrest was a direct result of exercising my right to free speech, as I defended the end of the free Palestine and Gaza genocide. “With the January ceasefire broken, Gaza parents once again embrace the little shroud, and their families force hunger and evacuation against the bomb.
In a statement on Halil’s arrest, DHS previously said it had “led activities in line with Hamas, the designated terrorist organization.” White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt alleged that Halil had disrupted the campus, harassed Jewish American students and organized protests to distribute pro-Hama propaganda. Halil’s lawyer Sama Sisai rejected the Trump administration’s claims and said there was no evidence that Halil provided support of any kind to terrorist organisations.
In the letter, Khalil also explained his background, noting that he was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria after his family was evacuated in Nakba in 1948.
“I spent the young people still far from their hometown,” he said. “But being Palestinian is an experience that transcends borders. In my situation it is similar to the use of Israeli administrative detention – prisons without trial or accusation – to disenfranchise the rights of Palestinians… incarceration without a legitimate process is common for Palestinians.”
Halil said he believes his arrests show that “both Biden and the Trump administrations have demonstrated “by both the Biden and Trump administrations” over the past 16 months as the US continues to supply arms to Israel to kill Palestinians and prevent international intervention.
“The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to curb challenges. Visa holders, green card airlines and citizens will all target their political beliefs,” warned Halil.
He then urged the people to gather together to protect the Palestinian people.
“In the coming weeks, students, supporters and elected officials must unite to defend their right to protest against Palestine. It’s not just our voices that are at stake, but all the basic civil liberties,” he said.
On Monday, Halil’s legal team filed a preliminary aberration in federal court in the Southern District of New York seeking his release to his wife for his return.
Halil concluded his letter by saying, “Notwithstanding, I hope to be free to witness the birth of my first child.”
