Philadelphia, MINA – Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has accused the Trump administration of attempting to silence pro-Palestine voices by seeking to re-detain him, as his lawyers appeared Tuesday before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to challenge the legality of his previous detention.
“We just finished a long hearing,” Khalil told reporters outside the court. “I feel confident, of course. The Trump administration is still trying to re-detain me. They’re trying to stop the federal court from looking at my case because they know they don’t have a case against me.”
Khalil, 30, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate, is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and is married to a US citizen. He was detained without a warrant by immigration officers in New York City in March and transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana, where he was held for several months.
The Trump administration claimed that Khalil’s presence posed a threat to US foreign policy but offered no evidence to support the claim. A lower court later ordered his release on bail in June and barred the government from detaining or deporting him.
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“This case is not about Mahmoud Khalil,” the activist said. “This case is about every single person in this country, citizens or not their freedom of speech, their right to dissent, and their ability to speak up, especially about Palestine and the genocide that’s happening in Gaza.”
“They want to break me because they want to deport me as soon as possible, so that others would fear speaking out. That’s why I’m continuing to fight,” he added.
Khalil’s legal team, led by attorney Ramzi Kassem, co-director of the CLEAR project, urged the appeals court to uphold the lower court’s decision that found the government’s actions likely unconstitutional and affirmed Khalil’s right to remain free on bail.
“We’re continuing to press forth in this court behind me, in the district court in New Jersey, and in immigration court in Louisiana to vindicate Mahmoud’s constitutional rights and his right to remain here with his family as a lawful permanent resident,” Kassem said.
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He added, “What’s at stake is not just his right to speak up in defense of Palestinian human rights and to stay here with his US citizen wife and child, but everyone’s First Amendment rights and due process rights.”
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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