On Thursday, May 22, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist detained by the U.S. authorities and a graduate student at Columbia University, was granted the opportunity to hold his one-month-old son for the first time. Previously, a federal judge had prevented Trump administration officials from following the customary practice of separating the father and son with plexiglass during visits.
This visit took place just before Khalil was set to attend his immigration hearing. A Columbia University graduate with a U.S. green card, Khalil was arrested for his significant role in last year’s pro-Palestine protests and is facing deportation. He has been held in a prison in Louisiana since March 8.
Khalil was the first person arrested under the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests on American university campuses and is among the few still detained during legal proceedings.
Federal authorities have not charged Khalil with a crime but have sought to deport him.
Last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied his request for temporary release to be present during the birth of his son on April 21.
The manner of Thursday’s visit had been the subject of a legal battle between the Trump administration and Khalil. Khalil had requested a “contact visit” that would allow him to interact with his wife and son, while federal officials argued for a “non-contact” visit where they would be separated by a barrier.
In a court document submitted on Wednesday, officials from the Department of Justice argued that granting Khalil the right to a contact visit would “entitle him to a privilege not afforded to other detainees.”
According to Khalil’s lawyer, on Wednesday night, Federal Judge Michael Farbiarz from New Jersey intervened in the case, allowing Khalil to have a “contact visit” on Thursday morning. A federal judge in New York ruled in mid-March to transfer Khalil’s case to a New Jersey court after federal immigration agents arrested him, spending a night at an immigration detention center in New Jersey before being brought back to New York and later flown to an immigration prison in Louisiana.
Farbiarz is also considering Khalil’s appeal for release, as a Louisiana immigration judge had ruled to proceed with his deportation.
Khalil was unable to attend Columbia University’s graduation ceremony held on Wednesday.
(This article was sourced from The Associated Press)