Mahmoud Khalil Addresses Supporters, Describes Detention

Mahmoud Khalil gave his first interview since being released from ICE detention to the New York Times, and he tells the newspaper the moment he was taken into custody "felt like kidnapping." The 30-year-old Palestinian, a US permanent resident with a green card, was in the lobby of his Manhattan apartment building at the time. "All the 'Know Your Rights' information and fliers I read and familiarized myself with were useless," he said. "There are no rights in such situations." Of his more than three months in lockup before being released Friday, the Columbia University graduate says he had no privacy and shared a room with more than 70 other detainees.

He spent his time translating for them so they could talk to authorities and reading. He was denied a request to see his wife after she delivered their newborn son. Khalil, known for his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, also had a message for the Trump administration at the Newark airport Saturday as he made his way home, the BBC reports. "My existence is a message" to the administration, he said. "All these attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian voices have failed now." He returned to Columbia University for a rally Sunday and addressed supporters there, the Guardian reports. He thanked all the students there and elsewhere who have continued to protest for the Palestinian cause. (More Mahmoud Khalil stories.)