Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student detained in March by immigration agents, responded for the first time to the charges against him and described the “irreparable harm” his arrest has had on him and his family.
“I have suffered—and continue to suffer—as a result of the government’s actions against me,” he said in a declaration included in a letter his legal team filed on Thursday in support of his bid for a preliminary injunction in his federal case.
“The most immediate and visceral harms I have experienced directly relate to the birth of my son, Deen. Instead of holding my wife’s hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone,” Khalil said. “I listened to her pain, trying to comfort her while 70 other men slept around me. When I heard my son’s first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.”
His wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, was eight months pregnant when Khalil was arrested March 8 at his New York apartment building. She said she had requested his presence at the birth but was denied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Khalil said that not being able to see his family has been “devastating.”
In his declaration, he condemned the White House and President Donald Trump over the “grotesque and false” claims made against him. Khalil was targeted for deportation after he helped organize pro-Palestinian rallies on the university’s campus.
He is being held at a facility in rural Jena, Louisiana.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that “it is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America.”
“When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, take over buildings and deface property, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” the statement added.
DHS said Khalil was granted a contact visit with his wife and son before his court appearance and has been given the option of self-deporting.
The Department of Justice declined to comment, and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It is hard to describe the humiliation and pain of seeing mugshot-style images of myself circulated from the highest levels of the U.S. government—accompanied by inflammatory language, grotesque and false accusations, and open celebration of my deportation,” Khalil said in the declaration. “These were not just attacks on my character; they were efforts to erase my humanity.”
Khalil said his wife and family have also been subjected to harassment after the government labeled him a “U.S. foreign policy concern” and accused him of supporting Hamas. He said the allegations against him are false and “deeply racist.”
Khalil’s attorney said in the letter that his arrest has damaged his reputation and “severely” undermined his pursuit of one day working in international diplomacy and human rights advocacy.
Khalil said he had accepted a position at Oxfam International as a policy advisor, but the job offer was revoked.
“I strongly believe that the Rubio Determination, my arrest and detention—and the public stigma that followed— played a significant role in this decision,” he said. “I was not surprised; roles like this depend on your reputation.”
Oxfam International did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
In a separate declaration, Khalil’s wife described how she is “afraid for our safety.”
“Mahmoud’s case has impacted every aspect of our life,” she said. “I have experienced Islamophobia my whole life as a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, but it has been amplified by Mahmoud’s detention and ongoing case. Mahmoud’s and my careers, our desire for a stable life, and Deen’s future will forever be impacted by these false allegations against him.”
