Washington, MINA – Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil has condemned his arrest and the conditions inside U.S. immigration detention centers, calling himself a “political prisoner”, Anadolu Agency reported.
In a letter made public on Tuesday, Khalil described his experience in a Louisiana detention facility, where he says he wakes up to cold mornings and witnesses widespread injustices against detainees denied legal protections.
Khalil was arrested on March 8 by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents after they confronted him and his eight-month-pregnant wife, Noor Abdalla, as they returned from dinner.
According to video footage released by his family, he was taken into custody without a warrant, and agents refused to provide details about the arrest.
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The Trump administration has accused Khalil of engaging in “activities aligned with Hamas,” though no evidence has been publicly provided. Khalil, who played a significant role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year, is currently being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana.
In his letter, Khalil stated that his detention is a direct result of his activism for Palestinian freedom and opposition to Israeli military actions in Gaza. He emphasized that his arrest reflects broader efforts to suppress voices critical of U.S. foreign policy and support for Israel.
“My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night,” Khalil wrote. “It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.”
Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Khalil recounted his family’s displacement since the 1948 Nakba.
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He compared his detention to Israel’s practice of administrative detention, in which Palestinians are often held without trial or charge.
He accused both the Biden and Trump administrations of enabling anti-Palestinian discrimination and facilitating Israeli military operations in Gaza. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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