NEW YORK (AP) — A Columbia University graduate at the center of a politically charged deportation case has shared a personal and emotional account of his ongoing detention, highlighting the toll it has taken on his family, career, and civil liberties.
Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old legal U.S. resident and political refugee from Syria, has been held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana since March 8. In court documents unsealed Thursday, Khalil described the “irreparable harm” he has suffered — including missing the birth of his first child.
“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 wrote. “When I heard my son’s first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.”
Khalil was arrested by federal immigration agents in the lobby of his university-owned apartment, marking the first known case under the Trump administration’s expanded efforts to deport students involved in campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Department of Homeland Security alleges that Khalil’s political views pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy — a justification U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz recently questioned, calling it potentially unconstitutional and “arbitrary.”
Khalil, a former policy advisor for humanitarian causes, had secured a position at Oxfam International, which has since rescinded its job offer. He now fears lasting damage to his career, especially if the case results in deportation. Meanwhile, his mother’s U.S. visa is under review, complicating efforts to care for his newborn son.
His wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, a U.S. citizen, also submitted a statement describing the emotional and logistical hardship of going through childbirth alone.
Faculty and students at Columbia have spoken out, warning that Khalil’s arrest has created a chilling effect on political expression, especially among pro-Palestinian groups.
No comment has yet been issued by ICE or the Department of Homeland Security.
