Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia College pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by ICE for greater than three months, spoke with ABC Information Stay Prime anchor Linsey Davis within the first on-camera interview since his launch.
Within the interview, which is ready to air on Monday at 7 p.m. ET, Khalil mirrored on his detention and pushed again in opposition to the Trump administration’s declare that he’s a risk to U.S. nationwide safety.
Khalil, who was detained on March 8, described that day as “probably the most troublesome day that I’ve ever lived.”
Watch extra of Linsey Davis’ broadcast interview with Mahmoud Khalil on “Good Morning America” Monday at 7 a.m. ET and ABC Information Stay Prime at 7 p.m. ET.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil marches with supporters after he was launched from ICE detention throughout a rally outdoors of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, June 22, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
Spencer Platt/Getty Pictures
“I felt like I used to be actually kidnapped, all of the ‘know your rights’ that I’ve indulged myself into felt like nothing as a result of at that second ICE made it clear that you haven’t any rights, in any respect,” he instructed Davis.
Khalil, a inexperienced card holder who’s married to Dr. Noor Abdalla, an American citizen, was a graduate scholar at Columbia College’s Faculty of Worldwide and Public Affairs the place he took half in a sequence of pro-Palestinian protests on campus in opposition to the Israeli army marketing campaign in Gaza.
Abdalla gave start on April 21 to the couple’s first little one, a son named Deen, however Khalil’s request to be current for his son’s start was denied. He didn’t meet him till Could 22 whereas in custody.
“What did that imply that you simply had been denied that?” Davis requested.
“That is probably the most merciless factor that any administration would do,” Khalil mentioned. “Clearly, I used to be not hazard to the neighborhood, that they may have afforded me that chance to be with my son, but it surely’s not solely about me, it is in regards to the hundreds of people that can’t be with their kids.”
Former Columbia College scholar and pro-Palestinian protest chief Mahmoud Khalil holds a press convention outdoors the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, June 22, 2025.
Kena Betancur/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Requested what his first night time along with his son was like, Khalil mentioned that he “could not sleep.”
“[I was] simply taking a look at him, being with him,” he mentioned. “I might be alert to any type of expression that Deen would make as a result of the second that was stripped of me, of witnessing his start, actually impacted me on so many ranges.”
Khalil was detained in March, with the Trump administration saying then partially that his continued presence within the nation would pose a threat to U.S. international coverage. Nonetheless, Choose Farbiarz issued a preliminary injunction final week barring the Trump administration from persevering with to detain him primarily based on that assertion.
He was detained for a further week till his launch on Friday after the federal government argued for his continued detention primarily based on their allegation that he misrepresented data on his inexperienced card utility, an allegation that Khalil and his attorneys deny.
“The White Home has mentioned that you simply distributed pro-Hamas fliers. Secretary Rubio mentioned that you simply created an setting of harassment towards Jewish college students. President Trump mentioned we received to get him the hell out of our nation. Why do you suppose that you’re perceived as such a risk?” Davis requested Khalil.
“As a result of I signify a motion that goes in opposition to what this administration is making an attempt to do,” Khalil responded. “They attempt to painting me as a violent particular person. They attempt to painting me as a terrorist, as some lunatic, however not presenting any proof, not presenting any shred of credibility to their claims.”
Former Columbia College scholar and pro-Palestinian protest chief Mahmoud Khalil shouts slogans in entrance of Columbia College after delivering a press convention in New York Metropolis, June 22, 2025
Kena Betancur/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Khalil was released Friday evening from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, Louisiana, after U.S. District Choose Michael Farbiarz issued an order granting his launch on bail. The decide mentioned the federal government made no try to show that Khalil’s launch would irreparably hurt them in a roundabout way or that Khalil represented a flight threat.
“What all that proof provides as much as is a scarcity of violence, a scarcity of property destruction, a scarcity of something that may be characterised as incitement to violence,” Farbiarz mentioned of Khalil.
The decide mentioned that the circumstances of Khalil’s launch shall not embrace digital monitoring or a requirement {that a} bond be instantly posted.
The Division of Homeland Safety sharply criticized the decide’s choice to launch Khalil, claiming in a statement on Friday that the ruling is “yet one more instance of how out-of-control members of the judicial department are undermining nationwide safety,” and arguing “an immigration decide, not a district decide, has the authority to determine if Mr. Khalil must be launched or detained.”
“Their conduct not solely denies the results of the 2024 election, it additionally does nice hurt to our constitutional system by undermining public confidence within the courts,” the assertion continued.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was launched from ICE detention, and his spouse Noor Abdalla take part in a rally on the steps of Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, June 22, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
Spencer Platt/Getty Pictures
The ruling to launch Khalil got here on the similar time an immigration decide in Jena, Louisiana, denied Khalil’s request for asylum and ordered him to stay detained. Farbiarz’s order outmoded that ruling.
Khalil, a grandson of Palestinian refugees who was born in Syria and has Algerian citizenship, mentioned that he’s going through “a really lengthy struggle forward,” however mentioned that he is not going to cease advocating for Palestinian human rights.
“I could be detained subsequent week if the federal government prevails on enchantment, which they won’t,” he mentioned. “However what I’ll deal with is constant to advocate for Palestinians.”
“The specter of detention is not going to deter you?” Davis requested.
“Not any risk would deter me as a result of nobody ought to keep silent when persons are getting killed. Nobody,” Khalil mentioned.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil marches with supporters after he was launched from ICE detention throughout a rally outdoors of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, June 22, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
Spencer Platt/Getty Pictures
The Israel-Hamas struggle started on Oct. 7, 2023, with Hamas’ terrorist assault on Israel, the place no less than 1,200 had been killed and 251 had been taken hostage. There are 50 hostages that stay in Hamas captivity, with 27 that Israel believes are useless, in accordance with Israeli officers.
The struggle has taken a extreme toll on the Palestinian inhabitants in Gaza, with 55,104 folks killed, in accordance with the Hamas-run Gaza Well being Ministry.
When speaking in regards to the Palestinian motion, Khalil mentioned there’s “no place” for antisemitism or “any type of racism.”
“There is not any place for any type of racism, together with anti-Blackness, antisemitism within the Palestine motion, and the Jewish college students and folks on the whole in the USA are an integral a part of the Palestinian motion,” he mentioned.
ABC Information’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
