Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, targeted for deportation as a result of his role in campus protests despite holding a green card, has made his first statement since being taken into custody earlier this month.
Khalil dictated a letter through a phone call from a detention facility in Louisiana. He said that after being taken by ICE in New York City, he was forced to sleep on a “cold floor” at an office before being taken to a detention center in New Jersey. There he also “slept on the ground and was refused a blanket” despite requesting one.
“Visa-holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs,” Khalil added in a passage of his statement. The Trump administration said he was later taken to a facility in Louisiana, where he is being currently held, as a result of a bedbug infestation.
Khalil, however, said he never heard “anyone mention bedbugs” and he feared he was being deported immediately. The head of Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC) told CBS News that there was indeed an infestation and that staff “immediately implemented a plan, with the approval and coordination of our partners at ICE, to determine the extent of the issue and eradicate any infestation.”
However, the outlet detailed that the facility has accepted at least four people over the past weeks and that Khalil himself saw men being processed while in New Jersey.
30-year-old Khalil, born in Syria to Palestinian parents, was a negotiator representing students who staged numerous protests throughout the year, setting up encampments and disrupting activities. Both his student visa and green card were revoked.
The Trump administration has vowed to deport Khalil despite criticism from many Democrats and advocates, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying “he’s going to leave — and so are others.”
Speaking to CBS News, Rubio added that “we’re going to keep doing it” and that the administration will revoke the visas and green cards of “Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
The detention has set up a showdown over first amendment rights. Asked if he could effectively link Khalil with terrorist activities or if he was espousing controversial views, Rubio said “these guys take over entire buildings, they vandalize colleges.” Negotiating on their behalf is a “crime in and on itself,” he added.
“And if you tell us, when you apply for a visa, ‘I’m coming to the U.S. to participate in pro-Hamas events,’ that runs counter to the foreign policy interest of the United States of America,” said Rubio. “If you had told us that you were going to do that, we never would have given you the visa.”
Originally published on Latin Times
