Columbia University Student and Palestinian Activist Faces Deportation: A Wife’s Plea
New York, March 12 – Just two days before U.S. agents apprehended Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and prominent Palestinian activist, he posed a poignant question to his wife, Noor Abdalla: "Do you know what to do if immigration agents come to our door?"
Abdalla, Khalil’s wife of over two years, confessed her confusion. As a legal permanent resident of the United States, she reasoned, Khalil should not be concerned about such matters. "I didn’t take him seriously. Clearly, I was naive," Abdalla, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, shared with Reuters in her first media interview.
The chilling reality unfolded on Saturday when U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents placed Khalil in handcuffs in the lobby of their university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil’s arrest marks one of the initial steps taken by President Donald Trump, who recently returned to the White House, to fulfill his promise of deporting foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement.
Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist practicing in New York, sat in the front row of a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday as Khalil’s legal team argued before a federal judge that his arrest was an act of retaliation for his vocal opposition to Israel’s military actions in Gaza, following the militant group Hamas’ October 2023 attack. The lawyers asserted that this constituted a violation of Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech.
Legal Battle and Constitutional Concerns
The judge has extended his order temporarily blocking Khalil’s deportation while he deliberates on the constitutionality of the arrest. Trump has alleged, without presenting concrete evidence, that Khalil has promoted Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group governing Gaza. While his administration acknowledges that Khalil is not accused of or charged with any crime, Trump maintains that his presence in the U.S. is "contrary to national and foreign policy interests."
A "Kind, Genuine Soul" Transferred to Louisiana
On Sunday, the Trump administration transferred Khalil from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Manhattan, to a detention facility in rural Jena, Louisiana, a distance of approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 km).
Abdalla and Khalil’s love story began in Lebanon in 2016 when she joined a volunteer program that Khalil was overseeing at a non-profit organization providing educational scholarships to Syrian youth. Their connection evolved from friendship into a seven-year long-distance relationship, culminating in their wedding in New York in 2023. "He is the most incredible person who cares so much for other people," Abdalla said. "He is the most kind, genuine soul."
Facing Parenthood Under Unthinkable Circumstances
The couple is expecting their first child in late April, and Abdalla expressed her heartfelt hope that Khalil would be released by then. She shared a recent sonogram image with Reuters, revealing a baby boy whose name they have yet to decide. "I think it would be very devastating for me and for him to meet his first child behind a glass screen," Abdalla lamented, adding that Khalil had insisted on taking on all the cooking, laundry, and cleaning duties throughout her pregnancy. "I’ve always been so excited to have my first baby with the person I love."
The government has stated that it has initiated deportation proceedings against Khalil and is defending his detention in court until the matter is resolved.
Trump has characterized the anti-Israel student protest movement as antisemitic and has declared that Khalil’s arrest is "the first of many to come."
From Refugee Camp to Columbia University: A Journey of Advocacy
Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and arrived in the U.S. on a student visa in 2022. He obtained his U.S. permanent residency green card last year. He completed his studies at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December but has yet to receive his master’s degree diploma.
He emerged as a prominent figure in the Ivy League university’s student protest movement, frequently engaging with the media as one of the lead negotiators with the Columbia administration regarding the protesters’ long-standing demands that the school divest its $14.8 billion endowment from weapons manufacturers and other companies supporting Israel’s government.
The Hamas incursion resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people in Israel, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
The Trump administration asserts that pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included expressions of support for Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers contend that criticism of Israel is being unjustly conflated with antisemitism.
Support and Frustration
Jewish faculty members at Columbia held a rally and press conference in support of Khalil outside a university building on Monday, holding signs proclaiming "Jews say no to deportations." However, Abdalla expressed her frustration that no one from Columbia’s administration had contacted her to offer assistance.
She emphasized that her husband’s focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and more direct forms of assistance. She has had a few brief phone conversations with Khalil from jail, where he told her that he had been helping other detained migrants with poor English fill out legal forms and donating food to his jailmates, purchased from his commissary account. "Mahmoud is Palestinian, and he’s always been interested in Palestinian politics," she said. "He’s standing up for his people; he’s fighting for his people."
Abdalla abruptly ended Wednesday’s interview when she saw that Khalil was calling her from jail, illustrating the constant uncertainty and emotional toll the situation has taken on her.
