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The militant of the University of Columbia, Mahmoud Khalil, said that the Trump administration had failed to suppress Pro-Palestinian votes, following his release of more than three months in immigration detention.
“My existence is a message” to the Trump administration, he told the BBC after his return to New Jersey of a detention center in Louisiana. “All these attempts to suppress Pro-Palestinian voices have failed now.”
Khalil was an eminent voice in Pro-Palestinian demonstrations of New York University last year, and his arrest on March 8 sparked demonstrations in New York and Washington DC.
The American government wants to expel it, arguing that its activism is detrimental to the interests of foreign policy.
Speaking at Newark Airport, New Jersey on Saturday, Khalil promised to continue to plead for Palestinian rights and for the rights of immigrants “who are left in this establishment” where he was imprisoned in Louisiana.
He accused the White House of having tried to “dehumanize anyone who does not agree with the administration”.
He held flowers given to him by supporters and shouted “Palestine Libre” while he ended his remarks. He was pushing a pram carrying his baby, who was born when he was in prison, when he left the press conference with his wife.
Khalil was joined by New York Democrat deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said that his release has shown that Trump administration was losing the legal battle to expel migrants in the United States that defended the Palestinians.
“The Trump administration knows that it is leading a losing legal battle,” she said.
“They violate the law, and they know that they violate the law. And they try to use these unique examples to intimidate everyone.”
Mr. Khalil’s remarks intervene one day after a judge ordered prison release to him after having determined that he was not a risk of theft or a threat to his community while his immigration procedure continued.
The Trump administration promised to appeal against his release because it continues its efforts to withdraw it from the United States.
