Mahmoud Khalil issues warning in Fox News op-ed on his detention: 'It could happen to you' |
Mahmoud Khalil issues warning in Fox News op-ed on his detention: ‘It could happen to you’
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil issued a stark warning in a Fox News opinion piece published Wednesday about his detention and free speech rights.
In his piece titled, “The US government targeted me for my political speech. It could happen to you, too,” Khalil said that “[t]hroughout my 104 days in federal detention, during which I missed the birth of my first child, I considered myself a political prisoner.”
“The government had deprived me of my liberty, not because I had broken any laws, but because it didn’t like what I had to say,” he added.
Khalil was released from federal immigration detention in June in the wake of a judge’s ruling. He is a lawful permanent resident and a former lead negotiator for the encampment at Columbia University.
The Palestinian activist was detained in March 2025 as the first case of many crackdowns targeting foreign students that took part in campus protests.
“I was not alone. Other students and scholars with valid immigration status were similarly targeted for detention and deportation despite having committed no crime. They were pulled off streets by masked agents, targeted outside of their homes, and tricked into arrests during citizenship appointments,” Khalil said in his Fox News piece.
“What happened to us is exactly what the First Amendment is designed to prevent: the government deciding which speech is acceptable and which is not. Once that protection is weakened, everyone is at risk,” he added.
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