Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student who the Trump administration is seeking to deport for his role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, has called himself a “political prisoner” in his first direct comments since his arrest.

Khalil, the Palestinian student activist, was arrested on March 8 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after he and his pregnant wife, Noor Abdalla – an American citizen – returned from a dinner.

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In a letter made public on Tuesday, Khalil decried his arrest and the conditions facing detainees in United States immigration facilities.

“My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana, where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law,” Khalil wrote. He added that “the agents threatened to arrest her [Noor] for not leaving my side”.

He was taken into custody without a warrant, and the DHS agents withheld details about his arrest, according to footage of the arrest that was made public by his family last Friday.

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In his letter, Khalil wrote, “DHS would not tell me anything … I did not know the cause of my arrest or if I was facing immediate deportation.”

His lawyer Amy Greer said Khalil is a lawful permanent US resident. Experts have underscored it is rare for green card holders to be threatened with deportation, except in cases of serious crimes.

In April 2024, students across the US mobilised to demand an end to their universities’ complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Demonstrations at Columbia University in New York drew particularly close media attention owing to the size of the protests.

Trump’s fierce reaction

The Trump administration has accused Khalil, who played a key role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the university last year, of engaging in activities aligned with Hamas, though no evidence has been provided.

Donald Trump has accused student protesters from Columbia University of participating in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity”. Again, no proof has been offered to support the claims.

Khalil said his arrest was a direct result of his activism for a free Palestine and an end to Israeli violence in Gaza.

“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,” he wrote in the letter.

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Khalil also drew parallels between his situation and the use of administrative detention by Israel, where Palestinians are often imprisoned without trial or charge.

“For Palestinians, imprisonment without due process is commonplace.”

He refused to be forced into silence and said “it is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom”.

“I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.”