Letter to My Husband, Mahmoud Khalil

In March, the Trump administration illegally arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University and an advocate for Palestinian human rights. Khalil, a U.S. green card holder, was detained in New York while returning from an iftar dinner with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, who is currently nine months pregnant. He was later put on a plane and sent to a detention facility in Louisiana without notice to his attorney or family.

Since Khalil's arrest, the administration has doubled down on its unlawful policy of revoking people's green cards and visas based on their political beliefs and advocacy. To be clear: The First Amendment does not allow the government to retaliate against anyone for their speech. Ripping someone from their home, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint is an unconstitutional attempt by President Donald Trump to silence dissent. Political speech – however controversial some may find it – may never be the basis for punishment, including deportation.

Below, read Dr. Abdalla’s letter to her husband one month into his detention.

Letter to My Husband Mahmoud Khalil

Dr. Noor Abdalla

April 8, 2025

Exactly a month ago, you were taken from me. This is the longest we have been apart since we got married. I miss you more and more everyday and as the days draw us closer to the arrival of our child, I am haunted by the uncertainty that looms over me—the possibility that you might not be there for this monumental moment. Every kick, every cramp, every small flutter I feel inside me serves as an inescapable reminder of the family we’ve dreamed of building together. Yet, I am left to navigate this profound journey alone, while you endure the cruel and unjust confines of a detention center.

I could not be more proud of you, Mahmoud. You embody everything I ever hoped for in a partner and the father of my children. What more could I ask for as a role model for our children than a man who, with unwavering conviction, stands up for the liberation of his people, fully cognizant of the consequences of speaking truth to power? Your courage is boundless, and now more than ever, I am in awe of your strength and determination. Your voice, your belief in justice, and your refusal to be silenced are the very qualities that make you the man I love and admire.

We will not forget those who have orchestrated this injustice, the government officials and university administrators who have targeted you without cause, without any shred of evidence to justify their actions. They sit in their ivory towers, scrambling to fabricate lies and distort the truth, throwing accusations like stones in the hope that something will stick. What they fail to realize is that their efforts are futile. Their wrongful detention of you is a testament to the fact that you have struck a nerve. You’ve disrupted the false narratives they’ve worked so hard to maintain, and spoken a truth that they are too terrified to acknowledge. What more do we have than our fundamental right to free speech, when they constantly attempt to strip us of our dignity, telling us we are unworthy of life, of respect, of voice? Now, they seek to punish that very speech, to silence the words that challenge their corrupt and oppressive systems.

They are trying to silence you. They are trying to silence anyone who dares to speak out against the atrocities happening in Palestine. But they will fail. We will not be silenced. We will persist, with even greater resolve, and we will pass that strength on to our children and our children’s children—until Palestine is free. I eagerly await the day when I can tell our son the stories of his father’s bravery, of the courage that courses through his veins, and of the pride he should feel to carry Palestinian blood… your blood. And, more than anything, I pray that he will not have to grow up fighting the same fight for our basic freedoms.

We will be reunited soon. Until then, I will continue to fight for you, for us and for our family. Your resilience and your courage will guide us through the storm. You are my best friend, my comrade, the very air that sustains me when it feels as though there is none left. I know your spirit is unwavering, that they cannot break you, and that you will emerge from this stronger than ever. I have no doubt that, when you are finally released, you will raise your hands in the air, chanting “Free Palestine.”

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