Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prevented detained Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil from holding his newborn son during a family visit, according to a report published by CBS News citing his legal team.
Khalil, 30, met his month-old baby for the first time behind a glass partition at a detention center in Louisiana, where he has been held since March. His wife, Noor Abdalla, traveled from New York for the visit, hoping for a contact meeting.
However, ICE officials and the private contractor operating the facility denied the family’s request for physical contact, citing the detention center’s no-contact visitation policy and vague “security concerns,” Khalil’s lawyers said.
ICE has nothing on this guy. What? He said some things opposing the killing and starvation of average people in Gaza, making the conservatives in power and their AIPAC financiers look bad? That’s not how the constitution works.
I am hearing the opposite: that Khalil was allowed contact visitation with his attorney, wife, and son this morning. The judge in New Jersey ordered the contact meeting with wife and attorney yesterday, but didn’t specify anything about the son.
Through glass according to the article.
Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student and lawful permanent resident who has been in immigration custody since March, got to hold his newborn for the first time Thursday at the Louisiana detention center where he is being held, his attorneys told CNN.
This is very confusing. NYT yesterday: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/nyregion/mahmoud-khalil-detention-hearing-baby-meeting.html
An administrator at the detention facility agreed that the couple could visit, but specified that it would be “non-contact,” meaning that the two would not be allowed to touch and could speak only through a clear divider. Mr. Khalil’s lawyers then asked for an exception so that their client could hold his newborn son. The facility again said no.
That all happened yesterday.
This morning, ICE and/or the facility changed their mind. The no-glass meeting today with the attorney and wife was required by a court order. The court did not require the newborn to be admitted to the “attorney-client” meeting, but he was admitted anyway.
The legal authority for the court order was to enforce Khalil’s sixth amendment right to the assistance of counsel.
Yes, they are not following judicial orders. Thanks for reminding us.
