New York, March 13 (RHC)-- A federal judge has extended an order blocking the deportation of detained Palestinian rights activist and recent Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil. 

Khalil is a U.S. permanent resident who was arrested for leading Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia last year.  His legal team spoke after a hearing in front of a Manhattan courthouse Wednesday. 

Baher Azmy of the Center for Constitutional Rights said: “Mr. Khalil’s detention has nothing to do with security.  It is only about repression.  The United States government has taken the position that it can arrest, detain and seek to deport a lawful permanent resident exclusively because of his peaceful, constitutionally protected activism — in this case, activism in support of Palestinian human rights and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

Mahmoud Khalil was finally able to speak privately with his legal team Wednesday following an order by the New York court to the Department of Homeland Security.

Mahmoud Khalil’s wife, who is a U.S. citizen and eight months pregnant, issued a statement on Tuesday, “pleading with the world to continue to speak up against his unjust and horrific detention by the Trump administration.” 

Protests have erupted across the United States following Khalil’s arrest Saturday, including in front of the ICE detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where he is being held. 

[ SOURCE:  DEMOCRACY NOW ]