Mahmoud Khalil testified Thursday that he had never imagined that the United States would persecute him for his speech and that his deportation could lead to “assassination, kidnapping, torture” — and danger for his wife and the infant son he had met just hours earlier.
“This is truly unlawful, what is happening to me,” he said, adding, “I believe that justice will prevail.”
It was a whirlwind day for Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and one of the leading figures in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school. In the early morning, he saw his month-old child, Deen, for the first time. And for hours, he sat through testimony from witnesses called by his lawyers who said that he would be in mortal danger were he to be deported.
In his own testimony, Mr. Khalil said that the United States government had “mislabeled me a terrorist, a terrorist sympathizer, which couldn’t be further from the truth.” Regardless, he said, wherever he might go in the world, he would have a target on his back.
Mr. Khalil was arrested in New York City in March and has been detained in Louisiana for more than two months. Having already ruled that the Trump administration had met its burden to deport him, an immigration judge, Jamee Comans, listened to witnesses who argued that his international prominence meant that Israel would target him if he were sent abroad.
“His life is at stake,” one of his lawyers, Marc Van Der Hout, told Judge Comans.
Mr. Khalil, on the stand, acknowledged the gravity of the potential repercussions were he to leave the United States. But earlier in the day, he was distracted: During the first portion of the hearing, the baby was asleep in the courtroom wrapped in a tan blanket with a blue pacifier. Every time the boy cooed, Mr. Khalil turned and smiled.
The scene swirled together the geopolitical and the intensely personal as the Trump administration continued trying to deport Mr. Khalil. It has argued that his presence in the United States hinders an American foreign policy goal of preventing antisemitism. Mr. Khalil’s lawyers have cited instances in which their client has spoken out explicitly against antisemitism; they say his monthslong detention is retaliation for pro-Palestinian speech.
The witnesses called by Mr. Khalil’s lawyers and appearing by videoconference argued as one that he would be in mortal danger were he to be deported.
Muriam Haleh Davis, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that Mr. Khalil was “the kind of target who would be at risk in many places in the region.”
Khaled Elgindy, a former Brookings Institution scholar and a visiting professor at Georgetown University, said that there was a 30 to 40 percent chance that Mr. Khalil could be targeted and killed if he were to be deported. If he were to stay in the United States, Mr. Elgindy said, the chance would drop to 10 percent or less.
Asked for a comment on the hearing, a Homeland Security Department spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, said that “Mahmoud Kahlil should use the CBP Home app to self-deport.”
She noted that the United States was offering $1,000 and a free flight to immigrants who did so.
In the Louisiana court, Judge Comans for the most part listened patiently. But she was incredulous when one witness, Leila Hilal, who specializes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syrian politics, suggested that Mr. Khalil had been “framed” by the American government. Ms. Hilal, a former director of the Middle East Task Force at New America, rephrased, saying instead that he had been targeted.
Mr. Khalil’s lawyers had hoped to end his immigration proceedings altogether, arguing that their client had been arrested without a warrant. But Judge Comans denied that motion, as well as others.
Even if the judge ultimately decides against Mr. Khalil, he will not immediately be deported. He can appeal the case to an immigration appeals board, and later to a federal appeals court. And a federal judge in New Jersey who is also considering the case, Michael E. Farbiarz, has for now blocked the Trump administration from removing Mr. Khalil from the country.
Mr. Khalil was the first of a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrators to be detained by federal immigration officials. But while several other protesters have been released on bail, Judge Farbiarz has not yet decided whether Mr. Khalil can go free.
Trump administration officials had initially been reluctant to allow Mr. Khalil, who has been detained in Louisiana for two months, to meet privately with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and the baby. They said that other detainees were not allowed such visits and that it would be unsafe to allow Dr. Abdalla and the baby into a secured part of the facility.
But after hours of negotiation Wednesday evening, the officials relented, paving the way for a family meeting before Mr. Khalil’s immigration hearing Thursday morning.
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area’s federal and state courts.
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