MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) — Monday marks one year since the detention of former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.
Federal agents took him into custody for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests. Khalil has since been released, but his deportation case is still tied up in court.
While Khalil may now be free from detention, he is not free from fear and the possibility he could still be deported.
“It’s really impacting everything in our lives, right now I don’t go on walks with my child alone, fearing that there would be arbitrary detention from this administration,” Khalil said. “That my American child will also be deported, because they’ve done it.”
One year later, Khalil’s life is still in limbo and his future is still uncertain.
The Columbia University graduate and U.S. permanent resident and green card holder was arrested by ICE agents last March in front of his pregnant wife.
The Trump administration accused Khalil of promoting antisemitism for his pro-Palestinian speech He was ordered released by a federal immigration judge months later.
But today, Khalil still can’t find an employer willing to risk hiring him and remains uncertain if he’ll be around for his newborn child.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to rearrest Khalil and deport him to Algeria.
“A year later now the administration has not charged me with any crime,” he said. “Because they cannot. There isn’t anything they can charge me with.”
Khalil, front and center Monday at a protest outside the university, denounced what they say was the school’s complicity.
Meanwhile, last month ICE was back at Columbia but this time for another student, Ellie Aghayeva. The university says ICE agents gained entry by claiming they were police searching for a missing child.
“Less than two weeks ago we saw ICE literally lie, the most deplorable thing,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “There is a race to the bottom that they keep finding.”
A university spokesperson said in a statement:
“Columbia supports our students’ right to advocate for the issues they believe in through protest. At the same time, we want to be very clear: no member of Columbia’s leadership or its trustees has ever requested, invited, or coordinated the presence of ICE agents against our students or staff.”
Aghayeva returned home the same day after Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked President Trump for her release.
The mayor said he also asked the president to drop the case against Khalil.
On Monday night, Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a photo on social media, along with a message, saying that he and his wife marked the one-year anniversary of Mahmoud’s detention by welcoming him, his wife and son to Gracie Mansion Sunday night to break their fast together.
Meanwhile, Khalil’s attorneys have filed an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
DHS is now claiming he lied on his Green Card application, but those are accusations Khalil denies.
He has a hearing set for later this month.
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