FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@freedomforimmigrants.org
NEW YORK — Following Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrest and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and legal permanent resident at Columbia, Freedom for Immigrants executive director Laura Hernández released the following statement.
“We join millions across the country in demanding the swift release of Mahmoud Khalil back to the safety of his home in New York with his eight-month pregnant wife. The abduction of Mahmoud is textbook authoritarian conduct by the MAGA regime. This blatant assault on Mahmoud’s most basic civil liberties is an affront to the fundamental rights of free speech, political dissent, and due process everywhere.
“The Trump regime will stop at nothing to rip people from their families, instill fear, and further its racist agenda. But we must also acknowledge that Trump inherited the detention machinery he’s now weaponizing to enforce his agenda. For decades, leaders on both sides of the aisle have worked in bipartisan fashion to expand the U.S. immigration detention system, which is the largest in the world.
“Immigrant detention centers across the country, like the privately-operated facility in Jena, Louisiana, where Mahmoud is being held, have long been plagued by deaths, racist violence against immigrants, and a culture of impunity and secrecy that emboldens ICE to further its abuse. Enforced disappearances and retaliatory transfers of individuals thousands of miles away from their families and attorneys have long been systemic features — not bugs — of the dehumanizing detention system.
“The weaponization of ICE’s infrastructure to squash political dissent is the logical conclusion to decades of detention privatization and unchecked expansion. Let this moment be a wake up call. We must not allow the MAGA regime to normalize these fascist tactics. Universities must step up to protect their students from repression and deportation by issuing robust policies that both restrict ICE agents or other law enforcement from accessing campus and further prohibit the use of time, money, space or personnel for civil immigration enforcement purposes. Leaders on both sides of the aisle must heed their constituents’ demand to stop using their tax dollars to fund the costly detention system and instead prioritize the needs of the common good, like housing, healthcare, and education.”
Background:
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Freedom for Immigrants is an abolitionist organization working to end immigration incarceration by organizing with and following the leadership of currently and formerly incarcerated immigrants. We’re building a future in which all people can move freely and thrive. Learn more at www.freedomforimmigrants.org/.