NEW YORK — The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student who is currently detained, has accused federal immigration officials of intentionally refusing his request to be present at the birth of their first child. She believes this decision was made to inflict suffering on their family.
Without her husband, Noor Abdalla gave birth to a baby boy on Monday. She expressed her disappointment that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) denied Khalil’s plea for temporary release from a detention center in Louisiana so he could be there for the birth.
“ICE made a deliberate choice to cause suffering to me, Mahmoud, and our son,” stated Abdalla. She also highlighted her belief that her husband’s current detention is unjust.
“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 added.
A message seeking comment was left with ICE officials.
Khalil is a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations at Columbia against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.
The federal government contends Khalil is a national security risk. An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled earlier this month that the government’s assertion that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. posed “potentially serious foreign policy consequences” satisfied requirements for deportation.
A lawyer for Khalil said the ruling will be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
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