The Trump Administration Files a New Justification for Keeping Mahmoud Khalil Detained

The court previously said the government could not hold the activist based on a determination by the secretary of state.

Mahmoud Khalil
Ted Shaffrey/AP

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention despite a judge ruling last week that the government’s original reason for detaining him was invalid.

On Monday, Khalil’s lawyers and family called on ICE to release him, or at the very least transfer him to a facility closer to his wife and infant son, who was born after his detention.

“The government is making desperate, last ditch attempts to keep my husband unjustly imprisoned,” Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, said in a statement. “The American people are with us, and can see right through the government’s unjust attempts to delay his release. No matter what the government pulls, we will bring Mahmoud home safe.”