Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil describes his arrest in new court filing
The night federal agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil on Columbia University's campus, the Palestinian activist feared he would be immediately deported, according to a sworn declaration included in a new court filing by his attorneys.
Khalil, a leader of the encampment protests at Columbia last spring, was detained on March 8. He was taken from his student apartment building to 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, and then to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to the filing.
After waiting to enter a processing room, Khalil said he was told "they don't need you in that room" and "you're being transported," according to the filing.
Two agents arrived to escort him to a van, according to the filing.
"I asked if we were going back to 26 Federal Plaza, and I was told, 'No, we are going to JFK Airport,'" Khalil said in the filing. "I was afraid they were trying to deport me."
In the court filing, Khalil's attorneys ask for his return to New York from Louisiana, where he is being held pending an appearance in front of an immigration judge later this month.
His attorneys had previously asked for his immediate release in a separate filing.
While waiting for the flight to Louisiana, Khalil said he learned the name of one of the agents accompanying him, Abdul, according to his sworn declaration. The other agent wore a Yankees hat, he said.
"Abdul told me that he was escorting me to Louisiana because 'no one wanted to take it' -- the job of escorting me -- 'because it was a Sunday,'" he said in the filing.
Khalil's lawyers said that during his detainment, plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents said his student visa had been revoked -- even though Khalil is in the U.S. on a green card. He is married to an American citizen, and he has not been charged with a crime.
Officials from President Donald Trump's administration have said Khalil was detained for his purported support of Hamas -- a claim his legal team has rejected.
A federal judge has blocked Khalil's removal from the U.S. while weighing a petition challenging his arrest.
He is set to appear before an immigration judge on March 27.
