About a year after federal immigration agents first kidnapped Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and detained him without charge, the pro-Palestinian activist is now urging Americans across the political spectrum to defend the First Amendment against the Trump administration’s efforts to overturn it.

Khalil wrote an op-ed Wednesday for News, detailing how he, as a green card holder, was separated from his then-pregnant wife in March 2025 due to his role in organizing nonviolent campus protests for Palestine; in other words, exercising your First Amendment rights.

“Throughout my 104 days in federal detention, during which I missed the birth of my first child, I considered myself a political prisoner,” he wrote. “The government had deprived me of my freedom, not because I had broken any laws, but because they didn’t like what I had to say.”

Khalil was eventually released and previously described the inhumane conditions he and other migrants had to endure while in detention. But the Trump administration is still continuing to fight Khalil in court to get him (and other pro-Palestinian activists like Leqaa Kordia) deported.

“The Supreme Court recognized eighty years ago that the First Amendment protects all of us in the United States (citizens and non-citizens alike) from government persecution for our beliefs,” he wrote.

“If we allow that border to be violated by non-citizens, or when the government claims a foreign policy concern, it creates a precedent that can be used against all of us,” he continued. “Even citizens. Even people who disagree with me vehemently about Palestine.”

Activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks at a rally outside the gates of Columbia University in support of Leqaa Kordia and other community members who have been detained by federal immigration agents for their views, in New York City on March 9, 2026.
Activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks at a rally outside the gates of Columbia University in support of Leqaa Kordia and other community members who have been detained by federal immigration agents for their views, in New York City on March 9, 2026.

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Khalil has the support of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdaniwho on Sunday received the activist and his wife, Noor, to enjoy iftar (the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan). Khalil said Mamdani was the first elected official to ask for his freedomand the mayor has since asked the president to drop the case against him.

“Mahmoud is a New Yorker and he belongs to New York City,” Mamdani wrote Monday on

Khalil is no stranger to leveraging international media to highlight how his experience in custody foreshadows a broader systemic problem in the country, whether it be government corruption, the dehumanization of immigrants, the American detention system, or, in this case, the First Amendment.

But the surprising decision to write for a huge right-wing outlet like News appears to show that Khalil is trying to reach an audience beyond his followers, with a warning to Americans that their rights could easily be the administration’s next target, regardless of their position.

“Our basic rights have no partisan affiliation, and my case should concern all Americans,” Khalil told News themezone on Thursday. “This message must reach everyone, not just the people who already agree with me. I will continue to use my voice whenever and wherever I can to defend our rights, justice and Palestine.”

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