Palestinian Student’s Wife Accuses U.S. of Deliberate Denial to Attend Birth of Their Child
Wife accuses U.S. immigration of inflicting intentional suffering, linking decision to Khalil’s activism for Palestinian rights on campus.
Watan-The wife of detained Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil has accused federal immigration authorities of deliberately denying her husband’s request to attend the birth of their first child, saying the decision was meant to inflict suffering on the family.
In a statement, Nour Abdullah said she was forced to give birth to their child on Monday without her husband by her side. She explained that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rejected a request for Khalil to be temporarily released from a detention center in Louisiana so he could travel to New York for the birth.
“This was a deliberate decision by ICE to cause pain to me, Mahmoud, and our son,” Nour said in the statement, adding that her husband is being “unjustly” detained.
She continued: “ICE and the Trump administration stole these precious moments from our family in an effort to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”
Khalil is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and a graduate student. He served as a spokesperson for campus activists last year during major demonstrations at Columbia University protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.
The federal government claims that Khalil poses a national security threat. Earlier this month, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that the government’s argument—that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. could have “serious potential consequences for foreign policy”—met the legal standard for deportation.
