No Glass Barrier: US Court Rules Against Trump Administration’s Efforts to Keep Father and Infant Separated by Plexiglass

New Delhi: Mahmoud Khalil, a detained Palestinian activist was permitted to hold his 1-month-old newborn for the first time on Thursday after a federal judge defied Trump administration’s efforts to keep the father and son away by a plexiglass barrier. 

Khalil is a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in Louisiana since March 8. Khalil was the first victim of Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters and continues to remain in custody as his case navigates around both immigration and federal court. 

Is Khalil stuck between political interests? 

The Federal Court has not found him guilty of a crime, but they still seek to deport him on the pretext of his prominent role in protests against the Israel-Gaza war. He was even denied to be a part of his son’s birth on April 21 by the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. 

Whether he would be allowed to physically meet his son sparked days of legal battle and his attorneys claiming he is being subjected to political retaliation by the government, since his actions were against US Foreign Policy. 

Federal Judge intervened to allow the meet-up:

Federal Officials said earlier this week that they would oppose Khalil’s efforts to seek a ‘contact visit’ with his wife Noor Abdalla and son Deen. And further suggested he could be allowed a ‘non-contact’ visit, i.e. he would have been separated from his wife and son by a plexiglass and would not be allowed to touch them. 

Acting director of the ICE field office in New Orleans, Brian Acuna, said in an affidavit that it would be “unsafe to allow Mr. Khalil’s wife and newborn child into a secured part of the facility.” It was claimed that granting this relief of family visitation to Khalil would be granting a privilege no other detainee has. 

However, Michael Farbiarz, a New Jersey Federal Judge intervened on Wednesday night to allow Khalil to meet his newborn. Following which Khalil met his son on Thursday morning. 

Not a Security Risk but Calculated Cruelty?

Khalil’s attorney described government’s attempts to refuse the visit as “further evidence of the retaliatory motive behind Mr. Khalil’s arrest and faraway detention.” They appealed that Abdalla had travelled 1500 miles to introduce the son to his father and that Khalil’s wife and son were “the farthest thing from a security risk.”

Abdalla openly expressed her anguish saying “It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse”, and further voiced her support for Gaza, “And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life” Abdalla added. 

Khalil’s Probable Deportation:

Federal Judge Farbiarz is currently considering Khalil’s petition for release while Khalil has appealed against a Louisiana immigration judge’s ruling regarding his deportation from the country. 

Khalil’s attorneys are continuously trying to provide evidence of his character and citizenship to secure a ruling of his freedom. The attorneys, on Thursday presented testimony in front of immigration judge, Jamee Comans, about the risk factors involved in deporting Khalil either to Syria, where he grew up in a refugee camp, or Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative. 

Testimonies from Columbia University students and faculty were also submitted where professor Joseph Howley described Khalil as “upstanding, principled, and well-respected member of our community.” Comans has given the attorneys time till 5 p.m., June 2., to submit written closing arguments.