The wife of detained Columbia University pro-Palestinian graduate Mahmoud Khalil has accused the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) of not allowing him to hold his newborn son, leaving him with no choice but to see the baby from behind a glass at a detention facility in Louisiana.
This was the first meeting between the father and the infant as Khalil, in detention since March and facing deportation, was earlier denied permission to be with his wife, US national Noor Abdalla, for the birth of their child. Their son was born in April.
"I am furious at the cruelty and inhumanity of this system that dares to call itself just," Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, said in a statement.
"After flying over a thousand miles with our newborn son, his very first flight, all so his father could finally hold him in his arms, ICE has denied us even this most basic human right. This is not just heartless. It 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 prison and bombs, denied dignity, denied life. We will fight until Mahmoud is home," she added.
The statement noted that Abdalla flew over 1,400 miles from New York City to Central Louisiana ICE Processing Centre in Jena, Louisiana, to meet Mahmoud.
The facility's refusal to allow Khalil to hold his child is in violation of ICE's own directives, including one which "affirms the importance of minimizing disruptions to family life and preserving parental rights," it further stated.
This was the first meeting between the father and the infant as Khalil, in detention since March and facing deportation, was earlier denied permission to be with his wife, US national Noor Abdalla, for the birth of their child. Their son was born in April.
"I am furious at the cruelty and inhumanity of this system that dares to call itself just," Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, said in a statement.
New — Mahmoud Khalil's legal team says ICE & private prison contractor GEO Group are refusing to let him have a contact visit with his wife & newborn baby.
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) May 21, 2025
They traveled over 1500 miles—hoping Mahmoud could see and hold them for the first time since his arrest over 10 weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/pXHhXZgpXm
"After flying over a thousand miles with our newborn son, his very first flight, all so his father could finally hold him in his arms, ICE has denied us even this most basic human right. This is not just heartless. It 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 prison and bombs, denied dignity, denied life. We will fight until Mahmoud is home," she added.
The statement noted that Abdalla flew over 1,400 miles from New York City to Central Louisiana ICE Processing Centre in Jena, Louisiana, to meet Mahmoud.
The facility's refusal to allow Khalil to hold his child is in violation of ICE's own directives, including one which "affirms the importance of minimizing disruptions to family life and preserving parental rights," it further stated.
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