Mahmoud Khalil, a detained Columbia University student, was unable to attend the birth of his first child after U.S. federal immigration authorities refused a lawyer’s plea for temporary release, his wife said.
Halil, 30, was arrested outside his New York apartment on March 8, an activist who volunteered as a spokesman during a pro-Palestinian protest at the university last year.
He has been in custody at a Louisiana detention facility for more than a month, but the Trump administration is about to deport him.
Eight days earlier than expected after his wife, Dr. Noor Abdallah gave birth on Sunday – Khalil’s lawyers have tried to reunite with his family temporarily.
In an email sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the lawyer said he was willing to accept “any combination of conditions,” including the client wearing ankle monitors through temporary releases.
However, according to an email she sent to her lawyer, Melissa B Harper, director of the Ice Field Office in New Orleans, rejected the request within an hour.
“After considering the information submitted and review of the client’s case, your Furlough request was denied,” she wrote.
Abdallah, who gave birth in New York on Monday, called it a “deliberate ice decision to make me, Mahmoud and my son suffer.”
“My son and I should not navigate his first day on Earth without Mahmoud,” she added. “The Ice and the Trump administration have stole these precious moments from our family in order to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”
Halil was the first person to be arrested for President Donald Trump’s crackdown on students involved in demonstrations against Israeli war in Gaza.
Shortly after his arrest, Khalil, born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and possesses Algerian citizenship, said through his lawyer that he was being held as a “political prisoner.”
The Trump administration, which has not accused Halil of crime, is trying to banish him on the grounds that he is a threat to US foreign policy.
Last month, a Louisiana immigration judge said this met the requirements for deportation, as other immigration judges were overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Halil’s lawyers are suing the decision. In another federal court case, they challenge the legality of his detention.
Additional sources •AP
