Mahmoud Khalil holds son for first time as protesters turn out in force for immigration hearing
Jena, Louisiana - An immigration judge in Louisiana on Thursday declined a request to end deportation proceedings against detained Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Judge Jamee Comans also denied motions to prevent Khalil from raising an asylum claim and to postpone the hearing and allow for the subpoenaing of witnesses, according to CNN.
Comans declined to issue a ruling and instructed attorneys to submit written closing arguments by June 2.
Khalil, who was born in a refugee camp in Syria, played a prominent role in the Palestine liberation movement on the Columbia University campus, where he was a graduate student.
People arrived on buses from Texas and other states around the country to rally outside the Jena courthouse and demand Khalil's release.
As the sun blared down on demonstrators in Louisiana, supporters in New York turned out in the rain calling for his return home.
This followed Columbia graduates booing the university's acting president Claire Shipman during commencement ceremonies this week and drowned out her words with chants of "Free Mahmoud!"
Khalil has been locked up at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center since his March 8 arrest without a warrant in New York City. A lawful permanent resident, he was targeted by the Trump administration for deportation due to his activism, sparking widespread fears for free speech rights.
In Thursday's hearing, Khalil and his attorneys requested the immigration case be terminated citing government misconduct in the warrantless arrest. They presented newly released video evidence appearing to contradict Trump administration claims that the Palestinian student posed a flight risk.
Mahmoud Khalil holds newborn son for first time
Though Comans denied the request to terminate deportation proceedings, there was a silver lining for Khalil on Thursday as he was permitted to hold his newborn son, Deen, for the first time.
Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, was eight months pregnant at the time of his arrest. She gave birth to their first child on April 21 without Khalil, as ICE had rejected his request to be present.
Abdalla traveled over 1,400 miles with Deen this week to visit Khalil and attend his immigration hearing, but ICE denied the new father the opportunity to hold his son, mandating the meeting take place with a Plexiglass barrier separating the family.
"This is not just heartless," Abdalla said. "It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life."
A federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, stepped in on Thursday to enable the contact visit. The meeting proceeded, allowing Khalil the chance to be together with his wife and son for the first time.
The family remains separated as Khalil continues to fight his removal proceedings in Louisiana, with Comans previously ruling in April that he could be deported.
A federal judge has blocked Khalil's removal as he and his attorneys argue a separate case in New Jersey challenging the constitutionality of his arrest.
Cover photo: REUTERS