Jailed Columbia student Khalil meets newborn son for first time

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist arrested by US immigration agents in March, met his month-old son for the first time on Thursday before an immigration hearing, his attorneys said.

After the daylong hearing, judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle immigration court in Jena, Louisiana, did not decide whether the US government can proceed with deporting Khalil. She was set to rule at a later date.

Before the proceedings began Khalil met with wife, Dr Noor Abdalla, and their baby Deen inside the Jena facility, an encounter made possible by a judge's ruling on Wednesday that Khalil must be allowed to meet his wife.

“Mahmoud was able to see and hold his baby and talk to and hold his wife this morning,” Amy Greer, one of his attorneys, told reporters after the hearing, adding lawyers allowed the family privacy and were unable to relay details of the encounter.

Khalil, a leader in the Columbia University student movement that has criticised Israel's military campaign in Gaza, has become a central figure in the US debate over the war and US President Donald Trump administration's tactics to use its jailing and deportation powers against political opponents.

The Trump administration has said his presence could harm US foreign policy interests. Khalil said he is the victim of US repression of free speech.

His son was born after Khalil was arrested on March 8 as the state department revoked his green card under a little-used provision of US immigration law granting the secretary of state the power to seek the deportation of any non-citizen whose presence in the country is deemed adverse to US foreign policy interests.

Khalil, 30, a Palestinian who was born and raised in a refugee camp in Syria, entered the US on a student visa in 2022 and became a lawful permanent resident last year through his wife, a US citizen.

In separate proceedings, a federal judge has blocked Khalil's removal while considering the student's claim his arrest was unconstitutional. That order will stand whether Comans rules in favour of deporting him until the broader questions are settled.

Reuters