(23 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jena, Louisiana – 22 May 2025
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1. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Van Der Hout, Attorney for Mahmoud Khalil:
"Today was the day that Mahmoud got to speak to the world. He got to say how outrageous it was, what the government has done to him, and what has been done to other Palestinians who have spoken out against what is going on in Gaza, what Israel is doing, what the United States is doing and what Colombia is doing. And it was his day to tell the world what he really felt and what the real truth is and what’s going on. He is not a threat to national security. He is not a danger to its…his presence in the United States has nothing to do with US foreign policy. It is a bogus charge. It is meritless. It’s never been used in this context against a permanent resident of the United States for First Amendment protected activities. We’re going to fight this till the end. Will make sure that Mahmoud is ultimately vindicated."
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Van Der Hout, Attorney for Mahmoud Khalil:
"All the experts testified that his life of freedom would be in severe danger if he was deported to either Algeria or Syria. Every single expert said that. There’s no dispute of that. The government didn’t contest that in any meaningful way. And we are optimistic that the judge will eventually rule in his favor on that issue. It’s just a tragedy that this has had to happen."
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nora Ahmed, ACLU of Louisiana:
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"I think we do for a second want to talk about the fact that Mahmoud was able to see his baby and hold his baby and talk to his wife and hold his wife this morning, but there’s a tragedy involved in that and that’s because he’s 1500 miles away from his family. So everything Mark’s talking about legally is true, but this man is being tortured. He’s being tortured and that he was denied the right to be there when his child was born, despite having asked, despite having agreed to every single rule that the facility, that the administration would have wanted to put on him. But then we had to fight when his wife was traveling all the way here with their newborn baby with the expectation that there would be some humanity at the facility and with ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to say we want parents and children together. In fact, ICE’s directives say that that’s what we want. And yet it was a fight that lasted nearly 48 hours with 50 attorneys, with hundreds of people across the country working to get one man, one hour to hold his baby."
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Amy Greer, Attorney for Mahmoud Khalil:
"And talking to him afterwards. It was an incredibly powerful experience. Again, it’s a month too late. And it’s about time that he got to hold his child. And that happened today. And he should have been there from the very beginning."
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5. SOUNDBITE (English) Baher Azmy, Attorney for Mahmoud Khalil:
"And it’s up to the federal court to, as other courts have done, to say that that is unlawful and fully and finally release him from detention so he can be with his family. And we do hope that comes, not in the coming weeks, but hopefully in the upcoming days."
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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Amy Greer, Attorney for Mahmoud Khalil:
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STORYLINE:
The visit came ahead of a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March 8.
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