STORY: :: 'The fight is far from over,' says released activist Khalil as he vows to continue his pro-Palestinian efforts
:: June 21, 2025
:: Newark, New Jersey
:: Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia University graduate
"Thank you so much for everything, not only for today, it's just for every day. Like just your words, your words of support, your messages have kept me going. Still, the fight is far from over. // The US government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide. This is what I was protesting. This is what I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine. // I just want to go back and just continue the work that I was already doing advocating for Palestinian rights--a speech that should actually be celebrated rather than punished."
He arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon (June 21) to cheers and ululations from friends and supporters. Khalil, 30, was reunited with his wife, a U.S. citizen, and greeted at the airport by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York.
Khalil, who recently graduated from Columbia University in Manhattan, was a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel student protest movement that swept campuses last year. Federal immigration agents arrested him in the lobby of his Columbia apartment building on March 8, making him the first target of Trump's effort to deport international students with pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel views.
