Mahmoud Khalil promises to continue fighting for the Palestinians after the release of ice custody

Mahmoud Khalil, the Pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was arrested for ICE for more than three months, spoke with ABC News Live presenter, Linsey Davis, in the first interview in the Chamber since its launch.

In the interview, which will be broadcast on Monday at 7 PM ET, Khalil reflected on his arrest and withdrew against the Trump administration statement that it is a threat to the national security of the United States.

Khalil, who was arrested on March 8, described that day as “the most difficult day I have lived.”

See more about Linsey Davis’s broadcast interview with Mahmoud Khalil in “Good Morning America” ​​on Monday at 7 am et and ABC News Live Prime at 7 pm et.

“I felt that I was literally kidnapped, everyone knows your rights’ in which I have understood myself as nothing because at that time the ice made it clear that you have no rights,” he told Davis.

Khalil, a green card holder who is married to Dr. Noor Abdalla, an American citizen, was a student graduated at the School of International and Public Affairs of the University of Columbia, where he participated in a series of Pro-Palestinian protests on the campus against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

Abdalla gave birth on April 21 to the first son of the couple, a son named Deen, but Khalil’s request to be present for the birth of his son was denied. He did not meet him until May 22 while he was in custody.

“What meant what they denied that?” Davis asked.

“That is the cruelest that any administration would do,” Khalil said. “Clearly, it was not a danger to the community, which could have given me that opportunity to be with my son, but it is not just about me, but about the thousands of people who cannot be with their children.”

When asked how his first night was with his son, Khalil said “he couldn’t sleep.”

“[I was] Just looking at him, being with him, “he said.” I would be alert to any type of expression that Deen would do because the moment that was stripped of me, to witness his birth, really struck me at many levels. “

Khalil was arrested in March, and the Trump administration said in part that his continuous presence in the country would represent a risk to the foreign policy of the United States. However, Judge Farbiarz issued a preliminary judicial order last week that prohibits the Trump administration from continuing to stop it based on that statement.

He was arrested for an additional week until his launch on Friday after the government advocated its continuous detention based on his accusation that he misrepresented information about his green card application, an accusation that Khalil and his lawyers denied.

“The White House has said that he distributed pro-hamas. The Secretary Rubio said he created an atmosphere of harassment towards Jewish students. President Trump said we have to take it out of our country. Why do you think it is perceived as a threat like that?” Davis asked Khalil.

“Because I represent a movement that goes against what this administration is trying to do,” Khalil replied. “They try to portray me as a violent person. They try to portray me as a terrorist, like some crazy people, but not presenting any evidence, not presenting any credibility to their statements.”

Khalil was released on Friday night from an immigration and customs application center in Jena, Louisiana, after the US district judge Michael Farbiarz issued an order that granted his bail release. The judge said that the Government did not try to demonstrate that Khalil’s release would irreparably damage them in some way or that Khalil represented a risk of escape.

“What all this evidence is added is the lack of violence, the lack of destruction of the property, the lack of anything that can be characterized as incitement to violence,” Farbiar said about Khalil.

The judge said that Khalil’s liberation conditions will not include electronic monitoring or a requirement to be published a bonus immediately.

The National Security Department abruptly criticized the judge’s decision to free Khalil, claiming in a Declaration on Friday That the ruling is “another example of how members out of control of the judicial branch are undermining national security” and arguing that “an immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide whether Mr. Khalil must be released or detained.”

“His conduct not only denies the result of the 2024 elections, but also does great damage to our constitutional system by undermining public confidence in the courts,” the declaration continued.

The ruling to free Khalil at the same time an immigration judge in Jena, Louisiana, denied Khalil’s application for asylum and ordered him to remain detained. Farbiar’s order replaced that decision.

Khalil, grandson of Palestinian refugees who were born in Syria and has Algerian citizenship, said he faces “a very long fight ahead”, but said he will not stop advocating for Palestinian human rights.

“I can be arrested next week if the government prevails in the appeal, which will not,” he said. “But what I will focus on is to advocate for the Palestinians.”

“Will the threat of detention dissuade you?” Davis asked.

“No threat would dissuade me because nobody should remain silent when people are killed. Nobody,” Khalil said.

The Israel-May war began on October 7, 2023, with Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel, where at least 1,200 were killed and 251 were taken as hostages. There are 50 hostages that remain in the captivity of Hamas, with 27 that Israel believes that they are dead, according to Israeli officials.

The war has affected the Palestinian population in Gaza, with 55,104 people killed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, directed by Hamas.

When talking about the Palestinian movement, Khalil said that “there is no place” for anti -Semitism or “any form of racism.”

“There is no place for any form of racism, including anti-Niñez, anti-Semitism in the Palestinian movement, and students and Jewish people in general in the United States are an integral part of the Palestinian movement,” he said.

The contribution of Sabna Ghebremedhin of ABC News to this report.