Wife of detained Palestinian Columbia student: "I never thought he would actually be arrested"

Noor Abdalla, the wife of Mahmoud Khalil—a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—admitted she underestimated the risk of his arrest. "I didn’t take it seriously. Clearly, I was naive," the 28-year-old U.S. citizen told Reuters in her first media interview, two days after her husband asked her what to do if immigration agents arrived.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident, was handcuffed by Department of Homeland Security agents on Saturday in their university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. The arrest marks an early move by the Trump administration, which took office in January, to deport foreign students linked to pro-Palestinian campus protests—a campaign promise of the Republican president. The U.S. government has initiated deportation proceedings against Khalil, defending his detention in court until a resolution is reached.

Abdalla, a dentist eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child, sat in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday as Khalil’s lawyers argued before a federal judge. They claimed his detention was retaliation for his vocal criticism of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, launched after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, and a violation of his free speech rights. The judge extended an order halting Khalil’s deportation pending a ruling on its constitutionality.

The Trump administration alleges, without providing evidence, that Khalil, 30, has supported Hamas, the Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. While not charged with a crime, officials argue his presence contradicts national and foreign policy interests. On Sunday, Khalil was transferred from an ICE facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a jail in Jena, Louisiana, 1,200 miles away.

Khalil, born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, arrived in the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and gained permanent residency in 2023. He completed his master’s at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December but awaits his diploma. A prominent figure in Columbia’s pro-Palestinian protest movement, he often spoke to media as a negotiator pushing the university to divest its $14.8 billion endowment from companies tied to Israel’s government.

The October 7 Hamas attack killed over 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 hostages taken to Gaza, per Israeli figures. Gaza health officials report over 48,000 Palestinian deaths from Israel’s subsequent offensive. The Trump administration says campus protests, including at Columbia, have backed Hamas and harassed Jewish students, claims protest organizers dispute, arguing criticism of Israel is wrongly characterized as antisemitism.

Abdalla met Khalil in Lebanon in 2016 through a volunteer program he ran for Syrian youth scholarships. After a seven-year long-distance relationship, they married in New York in 2023. “He’s the most kind, genuine soul,” she said, describing his support during her pregnancy. She hopes he’ll be free before their son’s birth in late April, fearing their first meeting might be through a jail’s glass partition.

Jewish faculty at Columbia rallied for Khalil on Monday, holding signs reading “Jews say no to deportations,” though Abdalla said the university administration has offered no assistance. In brief jail calls, Khalil told her he’s aiding fellow detainees with forms and sharing food from his commissary, reflecting his focus on community support.

JPost contributed to this article.