NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Detained Palestinian activist was allowed to hold his 1-month-old son for the first time Thursday after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a plexiglass barrier.
The visit came ahead of a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March 8.
Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump鈥檚 promised crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters and is one of the few who has remained in custody as his case winds its way through both immigration and federal court.
Federal authorities have not accused Khalil of a crime, but they have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in protests against may have undermined U.S. foreign policy interests.
His request to attend his son's April 21 birth was last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The question of whether Khalil would be permitted to hold his newborn child or forced to meet him through a barrier had sparked days of legal fighting, triggering claims by Khalil鈥檚 attorneys that he is being subject to political retaliation by the government.
On Wednesday night, a federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, intervened, allowing the meeting to go forward Thursday morning, according to Khalil's attorneys.
The judge's order came after federal officials said this week they would oppose his attorney鈥檚 effort to secure what鈥檚 known as a 鈥渃ontact visit鈥� between Khalil, his wife, Noor Abdalla, and their son Deen.
Instead, they said Khalil could be allowed a 鈥渘on-contact鈥� visit, meaning he would be separated from his wife and son by a plastic divider and not allowed to touch them.
鈥淕ranting Khalil this relief of family visitation would effectively grant him a privilege that no other detainee receives,鈥� Justice Department officials wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. 鈥淎llowing Dr. Abdalla and a newborn to attend a legal meeting would turn a legal visitation into a family one.鈥�
Brian Acuna, acting director of the ICE field office in New Orleans, said in an accompanying affidavit that it would be 鈥渦nsafe to allow Mr. Khalil鈥檚 wife and newborn child into a secured part of the facility.鈥�
In their own legal filings, Khalil鈥檚 attorneys described the government鈥檚 refusal to grant the visit as 鈥渇urther evidence of the retaliatory motive behind Mr. Khalil鈥檚 arrest and faraway detention,鈥� adding that his wife and son were 鈥渢he farthest thing from a security risk.鈥�
They noted that Abdalla had traveled nearly 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) to the remote detention center in hopes of introducing their son to his father.
鈥淭his is not just heartless,鈥� Abdalla said of the government's position. 鈥淚t is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life.鈥�
Farbiarz is currently considering as he appeals a Louisiana immigration judge's ruling that he can be deported from the country.
On Thursday, Khalil appeared before that immigration judge, Jamee Comans, as his attorneys presented testimony about the risks he would face if he were to be deported to Syria, where he grew up in a refugee camp, or Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative.
His attorneys submitted testimony from Columbia University faculty and students attesting to Khalil鈥檚 character.
In one declaration, Joseph Howley, a classics professor at Columbia, said he had first introduced Khalil to a university administrator to serve as a spokesperson on behalf of campus protesters, describing him as a 鈥渦pstanding, principled, and well-respected member of our community.鈥�
鈥淚 have never known Mahmoud to espouse any anti-Jewish sentiments or prejudices, and have heard him forcefully reject antisemitism on multiple occasions,鈥� Howley wrote.
No ruling regarding the appeal was made on Thursday. Comans gave lawyers in the case until 5 p.m. June 2 to submit written closing arguments.
Columbia's interim president, Claire Shipman, acknowledged Mahmoud's absence from Wednesday's commencement ceremony and said many students were 鈥渕ourning鈥� that he couldn't be present. Her speech from some graduates, along with chants of 鈥渇ree Mahmoud.鈥�
Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press
