Colombian activist Mahmoud Khalil returns home after ice detention
Colombian activist Mahmoud Khalil greeted his supporters at Newark International Airport after being released from immigration detention.
NEWARK, NJ – Mahmoud Halil smiled at the cheering crowd as the airport gates raised their fists and cheered, but he held his arm around his wife and threw his stroller.
On the afternoon of June 21st, the day after a federal judge ordered his release from immigration detention, the 30-year-old Columbia University alumni and Palestinian activists vowed to maintain his advocacy. Standing with his family and lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, he declared that he would not be stopped.
“Your words of support, your message keeps me moving,” Halil said in a simple statement. “Even so, the battle isn’t over.”
He plans to continue oppose what is called Gaza’s genocide and American support, including Colombia, and to continue receiving American support for the siege of Israel’s Palestinian territory following the Hamas-led attacks in Israel in 2023. Israel denied the accusation, but some human rights observers have come to this conclusion.
At the airport, Halil approached the crowd and stolen the Palestinian flag from his friend, draped it into the stroller of his son Dean, born two months ago.
When asked if there was a message to the Trump administration, Halil said, “My existence is a message. Palestine’s existence is a message.”
A day ago, a federal district judge in New Jersey ordered the release of Halil after gaining US immigration and customs enforcement custody for more than three months after advocacy on the Ivy League campus. The order hit the Trump administration’s crackdown on protests by pro-Palestinian students.
Ocasio-Cortez said that Halil’s detention by the Trump administration was merely political.
“It’s a humiliation for all Americans,” she said. “We will continue to resist the politicization of ice engagement and continued political persecution. We welcome the Mahmoud home.”
Why was Halil in ice detention?
A legal permanent resident born in a Syrian refugee camp, Halil was a student negotiator and spokesman for Palestinian protesters in spring 2024.
The students called on Colombia to sell its investment in Israel that would help promote war efforts. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israel’s siege in Gaza killed 55,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The Israeli tally saw a rise in death toll after Hamas-led attacks in Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.
Critics, including university administrators, accused the protesters of creating an unwelcome environment for Jewish students. Organizers denied the accusations of anti-Semitism, and Halil opposed anti-Semitism against CNN.
The demonstrations at Columbia’s camps sparked similar protests on university campuses around the country.
On March 8, federal agents detained Halil without a warrant in a university-owned apartment lobby in Manhattan. His wife Noor Abdallah was born in the United States and was eight months pregnant, but was by his side as he returned from dinner with a friend.
On the recorded cell phone video, Abdallah asked the agent repeatedly. They didn’t give her a response before taking Halil, who seemed calm in the footage.
His detention sparked a wave of protests in New York City calling for his release.
Eventually, Halil arrived at the Louisiana Ice Detention Center, where he stayed for over three months. Meanwhile, his son was born and other international students were detained in a radical crackdown on immigration by the Trump administration.
The Halil incident was the first of several well-known cases in which pro-Palestinian student activists were detained by immigration authorities and targeted deportation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that Halil had participated in “anti-Semitic protests and destructive activities” that “undermine the US efforts to combat anti-Semiticism.”
Rubio cited ambiguous provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to cancel Halil’s green card based on threatening the interests of American foreign policy.
What did the judge rule in the case of Halil?
New Jersey’s U.S. District Judge Michael Farbeers ruled on June 11 that Rubio has no authority to detain or deport Halil on foreign policy reasons. Farbiarz said other government arguments misrepresented important facts about his application for permanent residency “unjust or intentionally” by Halil, but could still be used to detain him.
On June 20, Fabiartz potentially punitively called Khalil’s months of detention at a Louisiana detention center. “Extraordinary circumstances” assured Halil’s release, Farbeers said.
Among them was the discovery that Halil, who has no criminal history and is being charged with a crime, poses no flight risk or risk to others in the community. Former President Joe Biden’s appointee, Fabiartz, raised concerns about the calm effect his detention had on free speech and the ability of immigrant judges to take on such issues.
The Justice Department lawyers did not oppose the evidence presented. They also did not present any evidence claiming that Halil committed violence, destruction of property or incitement to violence, Farbeers added.
After the ruling, the Trump administration challenged Farbeers’ orders, claiming that the migrant removal procedures were unauthorized.
Meanwhile, administration officials said Halil is removable twice for foreign policy reasons — which goes beyond accusations of anti-Semitism and support against Hamas militant groups, and misrepresented the information in order to gain legal status. Farbiarz excludes foreign policy debate, but the court is considering information he has submitted to immigration officers.
Halil’s lawyers call the administration’s allegations “fun.”
Halil is filing a pending lawsuit against the Trump administration in federal court in New Jersey. Halil’s lawyers say the Trump administration has violated his constitutional rights regarding freedom of speech and legitimate procedures.
The day after they arrived in Newark, demonstrators planned to support Halil and meet in New York City. Columbia did not respond to email requests for comments.
He smiled along with his wife and son, whom he had only seen once during detention, saw the crowd and vowed to continue the demonstration.
“This is why I continue to protest against you,” Halil said. “If they’re in custody and threatening me, even if they kill me, I’m still speaking up for Palestine.”
Contributors: Michael Karas, Bergen Records. Michael Loria, USA today.
