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Columbia University student and advocate for Palestinian rights, Mahmoud Khalil, has arrived in New Jersey, expressing his unwavering commitment to his cause by declaring to reporters that he will persist in his advocacy efforts ‘even if it costs me my life.’
Khalil, aged 30, was warmly welcomed with cheers at Newark Liberty International Airport on Saturday after spending over 100 days in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greeted him at the airport and stood by his side as he spoke to the press.
Khalil defiantly spoke, telling reporters: ‘If they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.’
‘My desire is to return and resume my advocacy for Palestinian rights—an expression that deserves recognition and celebration, not reprimand and punishment.’
Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the conference to condemn the Trump administration for ‘persecution based on political speech.’
She added that Khalil was unlawfully ‘taken’ and argued that federal officials acted illegally when detaining the activist.
Khalil, a lawful resident of the US, was granted release and freed on bail by a New Jersey federal judge on Friday.
Mahmoud Khalil arrived at Newark International Airport in New Jersey on Saturday after he was detained by ICE for over 100 days
Khalil told reporters at a press conference, ‘If they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine’
US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greeted Khalil at the airport and stood by his side while he spoke to reporters
The green card holder was taken into custody on March 8, 2025, as the Trump administration cracked down on pro-Palestine demonstrations on college campuses.
He was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and was a lawful permanent resident of the US.
Khalil was one of the primary organizers of protests that took over Columbia as the Israel – Hamas conflict was ignited.
In the ruling Friday, Judge Michael E. Farbiaz said that none of the Trump administration’s allegations against Khalil justified his continued detention, and sided with Khalil’s argument that he was locked up as an unlawful retaliation for his activism.
In his ruling on Friday, Farbiarz said: ‘There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish Mr. Khalil – And of course that would be unconstitutional.’
Khalil has not been charged with a crime, but the judge’s order to free him comes as the Trump White House continues efforts to deport him back to Algeria, where he is a citizen.
When he was detained earlier this year, Khalil’s case gained national attention as he was the first pro-Palestinian protester to be arrested by the Trump administration in its crackdown on college campuses.
Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, greeted him at the airport and introduced him to his daughter, who was born while he was in ICE detention
Khalil was ordered to be released on Friday by a New Jersey judge, who agreed that his detention was unlawful
Khalil’s wife Noor Abdalla, 28, pictured with a sonogram of their son, who was born while Khalil was in an ICE detention center
Several protests he organized and led at Columbia turned violent, with one seeing 112 students arrested when they stormed a campus building and occupied it as NYPD officers tried to shut their demonstration down.
His arrest sparked protests across the country as critics accused the Trump administration of unlawfully arresting a legal resident without charging him with a crime in violation of his free speech.
He was detained under the Cold War–era Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which states that non-US citizens can be deported if they are antagonistic against US foreign policy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Khalil of spreading anti-Semitism, and White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said he was ‘siding with terrorists.’
But in the three months that Khalil has been detained, the Justice Department hasn’t disclosed any substantive connection between Khalil and Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed around 1,200 civilians.
In their successful filing to free Khalil this week, the graduate student’s attorneys argued that he was not spreading anti-Semitism when he campaigned for Palestine in its war with Israel.
Khalil’s detention in March sparked protests across the country against the Trump administration, seen here in New York City
They cited past quotes from him such as comments he made to CNN during a campus protest, where he said that ‘the liberation of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people are intertwined and go hand by hand, and you cannot achieve one without the other.’
Judge Farbiarz had previously ruled that the foreign policy law was not enough to justify Khalil’s detention, and his ruling on Friday shot down further allegations from the Trump administration that Khalil made paperwork errors when applying for citizenship last year.
A number of other pro-Palestine protestors have been arrested and freed in the time that Khalil was detained.
The Trump administration has stood firm in favor of Khalil’s detainment, with a spokesperson for the White House claiming that his conduct was ‘detrimental to American foreign policy interests.’
The administration claimed that Khalil omitted information on his application to become a resident of the US, a claim he has denied.
An immigration court ruled on Friday that Khalil would be deported, but the graduate student has planned on challenging the decision.
