“My Existence Is a Message”: Mahmoud Khalil Vows to Continue Advocacy for Palestine Following Release

New York (Quds News Network)- Columbia University graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil said the Trump administration “chose the wrong person” to target in its crackdown on Pro-Palestine student protesters as he was released on Saturday on bail after more than three months in detention.

A federal judge ruled on Friday that Khalil was not a flight risk or threat to his community and could be released as his immigration proceedings continue.

Khalil was a prominent figure during the anti-genocide pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University in the spring of 2024, and his 8 March arrest by ICE agents sparked widesprrad condemntaons and demonstrations in New York and Washington DC.

The government still wants to deport him, claiming his activism is detrimental to US foreign policy interests.

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Khalil of engaging in “fraud and misrepresentation” and “conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests”.

The White House says Judge Michael Farbiarz did not have jurisdiction to order Mr Khalil’s release.

“We expect to be vindicated on appeal, and look forward to removing Khalil from the United States,”
Jackson said.

“It’s overwhelmingly unlikely that a lawful permanent resident would be held on the remaining charge here,” Judge Farbiarz said, according to CBS News.

He added that there had been an “effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner” for his protests.

Speaking to journalists before heading to New York from Louisiana, where he was held, Khalil criticised the Trump administration for targeting him for protesting against Israel’s genocide in Gaza: “There’s no right person that should be detained for actually protesting a genocide.”

“My existence is a message” to the Trump administration, he said after returning to New Jersey. “All these attempts to suppress Pro-Palestinian voices have failed now.”

Despite Columbia’s collusion with the feds and Zionist repression, Mahmoud Khalil is free and back with loved ones. His return is proof of the fallacy of U.S. and Zionist colonial invincibility. The struggle continues until all political prisoners are free. pic.twitter.com/7MUVERJSPD

— CU Apartheid Divest (CUAD) (@ColumbiaBDS) June 21, 2025

Khalil vowed to continue to advocate for Palestinian rights, and for the rights of the immigrants “who are left behind in that facility” where he was jailed in Louisiana.

He accused the White House of attempting to “dehumanise anyone who does not agree with the administration”.

He shouted “free Palestine” as he ended his remarks. He was pushing a pram carrying his baby son, who was born while he was in prison, as he departed the news conference with his wife.

Khalil was joined by New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said his release showed that the Trump administration was losing the legal battle to deport migrants in the US who advocate for Palestinians.

“The Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle,” the congresswoman said.

“They are violating the law, and they know they are violating the law. And they are trying to use these one-off examples to intimidate everyone else.”

“After more than three months, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father,” said Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union.