Freed Columbia student activist Mahmoud Khalil vows to 'continue advocating'
Mahmoud Khalil, who was released from ICE detention yesterday, has vowed to continue to advocate for Palestinian and immigrants' rights.
Listen to this article
The foreign student and prominent voice in last year's pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Columbia University's campus was released yesterday from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Jena, Louisiana where he was held for three months.
Speaking at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, Mr Khalil said he would continue to advocate for Palestinian rights and for the rights of immigrants "left behind" in the facility.
He accused the White House of attempting to "dehumanise anyone who does not agree with the administration".
Mr Khalil was joined at the press conference in Newark by New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She said his release showed that "the Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle."
"They are violating the law, and they know they are violating the law. And they are trying to use these one-off examples to intimidate everyone else."
Read More: Barack Obama warns the US is 'dangerously close' to becoming an autocracy
Mr Khalil departed the press conference at Newark airport with his wife and their young son. His wife gave birth to the child while Mr Khalil was in custody.
Mr Khalil's arrest on March 8 sparked public outrage and demonstrations in New York and Washington, DC.
The Trump administration has vowed to appeal against his release, as it continues its efforts to deport him from the US.
Federal judge Michael Farbiarz ordered Mr Khalil's release on Friday.
The judge said during a hearing on Friday that Mr Khalil, who is a legal resident of the US, was not a flight risk, and “is not a danger to the community. Period, full stop.”
“It is highly, highly unusual to be seeking detention of a petitioner given the factual record of today,” the judge also said during the hearing on Friday.
The US government had not accused Mr Khalil of a specific crime.
He was held in a detention centre by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over three months.
Mr Khalil's arrest was the first in a series as the Trump administration cracked down on foreign students protesting on US university campuses. Mr Khalil served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists during the Columbia protests.
The Trump administration has argued that international students who are not US residents who participate in such demonstrations should be deported from the country, as it considers their views anti-semitic.
