On Saturday, Mahmoud Khalil and Rep. AOC (D-NY) held a press confence at Newark Airport following Khalil's release from Immigration detention.
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00:00Well, first, friends, thank you so much for everything, not only for today.
00:20It's just for every day, like just your words, your words of support, your messages have kept me going.
00:30Still, the fight is far from over, the genocide is still happening in Gaza, Israel is still waging
00:40a full war against Palestinians across Palestine.
00:46The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this
00:55genocide.
00:57This is what I was protesting, this is what I will continue to protest.
01:03Not only if they threatened me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak
01:09up for Palestine.
01:12Again, I just want to go back and just continue the work that Palestinian rights, a speech
01:26that should actually be celebrated rather than punished, as this administration wants to
01:33do.
01:34But we'll take a few questions.
01:36Mahmoud, what would you state to the Trump administration?
01:39Because they wanted to keep you detained.
01:41What is your message for President Trump?
01:45Just the fact that I am here, it's a message.
01:48The fact that all these attempts to suppress pro-Palestine voices have failed now.
01:57So this is a message to this administration.
02:03Mahmoud, do you still believe?
02:04Mahmoud, how does it feel to be free?
02:06How does it feel to be free?
02:08Mahmoud, to be honest, I'm still trying to just comprehend that.
02:16Of course, it feels great.
02:18When I was on the inside, I was free.
02:20I continue to advocate for Palestinians, for the immigrants who are left behind in that
02:37facility, that 1,200 men who, all of them, are incredible men, who the Trump administration
02:45are trying to portray as whether criminals or as they say, and as I said yesterday, whether
02:56you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone on this land, you're not illegal.
03:02That doesn't make you less of a human.
03:06And this is what the administration is trying to do, to dehumanize me, to dehumanize the immigrants,
03:12to dehumanize anyone who actually does not agree with what that-
03:17Mahmoud, do you still believe in the promise?
03:19Excuse me, excuse me, we're not going to do any more questions today.
03:22Come tomorrow to the press conference.
03:24Mahmoud, do you still believe in the promise of America, Mahmoud?
03:27Excuse me, please.
03:28No more questions today, but we do have one more speaker.
03:31And you can come tomorrow to the press conference.
03:37But because of the security here, we have to leave.
03:40So, thank you.
03:41Thank you, everyone.
03:44I think we speak on behalf of so many people across this country, across so many people,
03:56welcoming Mahmoud home to be here and to be reunited with his wife and his newborn.
04:04Mahmoud was imprisoned for 104 days by this administration, by the Trump administration, with no ground.
04:19Because Mahmoud Khalil is an advocate for Palestinian human rights, he has been accused facelessly of horrific allegations simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech.
04:36This was a form, his detention by ICE being taken from his home, as well as other advocates, Ms. Ozturk in Boston, Massachusetts, ripped off of the street, being taken is wrong.
04:51It is illegal.
04:52It is an affront to every American, and we will not allow and we will continue to resist the politicization and the continued political persecution that ICE is engaged in.
05:08And so, we welcome Mahmoud home.
05:11We will continue to support the work of CCR, the ACL, the lawyers and organizers on the ground who have supported his family.
05:25And I have to, of course, thank my staff in office, Maureen Octor, who has done so much incredible work as well in ensuring that Mahmoud gets the justice and dignity that he deserves.
05:38And so right now, right now, we hope that and we wish for Mahmoud and his family to be able to enjoy some peace after an incredibly difficult 104 days.
05:49But we also have a path ahead of us. This is not over, and we will have to continue to support this case.
05:56And I also want to thank, I know we have representatives from Senator Schumer's office and others, because everybody agrees, everyone agrees,
06:04that the persecution based on political speech is wrong, and it is a violation of all of our First Amendment rights, not just Mahmoud's.
06:12Thank you very much.
06:19I think the thing that we know, first and foremost, is that the Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle.
06:29They are violating the law, and they know that they are violating the law.
06:33And they are trying to use these one-off examples to intimidate everyone else from not going to school, from not using their speech, etc.
06:42And so we hope, we've seen that a judge has tossed up their actions not just once, but twice.
06:48And we hope to continue to advocate for the administration to follow the law. Thank you.
06:56.
06:59.
07:00.
07:02.
07:05.
07:06These are attorneys, and they will, they will answer.
07:13.
07:17I think it's 5.30, but we'll send out a prize.
