Politics
Mahmoud Khalil says he’s a ‘political prisoner’ in 1st statement since arrest – National TenX News
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by U.S. immigration authorities 11 days ago, is speaking out from a detention centre in Jena, Louisiana for the first time since his arrest.
In a statement to the Guardian, Khalil said he was “a political prisoner … bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law.”
In his remarks, which you can read in full, Khalil accused the Trump administration of targeting him “as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent,” adding that “visa-holders, green-card carriers and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs.”
Khalil, who is a permanent U.S. resident and married to Noor Abdalla, an American citizen, was detained in New York on March 8 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the role he played in last spring’s pro-Palestinian protests on the grounds of Columbia University.
Khalil says the agents who arrested him “refused to provide a warrant” before threatening deportation and to revoke his green card.
“At that moment, my only concern was for Noor’s safety,” he said. “I had no idea if she would be taken too, since the agents had threatened to arrest her for not leaving my side.”
Following his arrest, Khalil was transferred to a holding facility in New Jersey before being flown to Louisiana, where he remains.
On Tuesday, from his cell, Khalil detailed his experiences in detention and queried the fundamentals of U.S. law.
“Who has the right to have rights?” he asked. “It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here. It isn’t the Senegalese man I met who has been deprived of his liberty for a year, his legal situation in limbo and his family an ocean away. It isn’t the 21-year-old detainee I met, who stepped foot in this country at age nine, only to be deported without so much as a hearing,” he continued.
“Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities,” Khalil added.
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He went on to condemn American foreign policy, Columbia University’s cowering to federal pressure to reprimand student protesters and Israel’s recent breaking of a fragile ceasefire.
“My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night,” he said, adding that it is “our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.”
In the days following Khalil’s detainment, calls for his release grew. Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York City demanding his freedom.
People gather outside of a New York City court to protest the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images).
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
On March 10, efforts to deport Khalil were blocked by federal Judge Jesse Furman, who requested lawyers for both parties put forward further arguments.
On Friday, legal representatives for the government requested that Khalil’s case be dismissed or transferred to Louisiana.
On Wednesday, Furman rejected government lawyers’ requests to move his case to Louisiana and ordered Khalil to remain in the United States for now.
Furman moved Khalil’s case from New York to New Jersey, arguing that he did not have jurisdiction to oversee it because Khalil was being held in New Jersey when his lawyers first disputed his arrest over his involvement in last year’s demonstrations.
Khalil did not participate in the encampments at the university over fears of losing his student visa, but he frequently spoke to the press and was tasked with upholding the interests of student activists during discussions with the university regarding conditions to end the protests.
Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil (centre) talks to the press during a press briefing organized by Pro-Palestinian protesters who set up a new encampment at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus in New York City on June 1, 2024. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images).
Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
During this time, he maintained a commitment to preserving both the interests of Jewish people and Palestinians.
Following an uptick of antisemitism on campus, Khalil told CNN last spring, “I believe that the liberation of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people are intertwined and go hand-by-hand and you cannot achieve one without the other.”
A year on, Khalil’s detainment marks the first in a nationwide hunt for university students who participate in demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas conflict, which have been further complicated by government pressure on educational institutions to stifle student activism.
In a recent Truth Social post, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to those who align themselves with the Palestinian cause as “terrorist sympathizers,” declaring that they no longer had the right to remain in the U.S., adding that his administration would “find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
Meanwhile, the government is slashing funding to American universities who do not strip back their diversity, equity and inclusion programming.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education released a list of 45 universities under investigation for their “use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”
On Wednesday, the Trump administration paused $175 million in government grants to the University of Pennsylvania over its policy regarding the participation of transgender athletes.
Similarly, on Friday, Johns Hopkins University announced thousands of layoffs across 44 countries and the winding down of its USAID grant-related activities in Baltimore and internationally after it lost $800 million in public health funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
— With files from Reuters
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Politics
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday underscored the importance of keeping central banks independent and threw her support behind beleaguered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is facing a Trump administration investigation for renovation cost overruns.
Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that there was ample evidence that central bank independence worked in the interest of businesses and households, and that evidence-based, data-based decision-making is good for the economy.
The IMF managing director said she had worked with Powell and respected his professionalism.
“I have worked with Jay Powell. He is a very good professional, very decent man, and I think that his standing among his colleagues tells the story,” she said, when asked about a letter of support signed by her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, now head of the European Central Bank, and other large central banks.
Powell on Sunday disclosed that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into him over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s Washington headquarters complex.
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Powell denies wrongdoing and has called the unprecedented actions a pretext to put pressure on him for not bowing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.
The probe has sparked widespread criticism from some key members of Trump’s Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, which must confirm his nominee to succeed Powell, along with foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties.
Trump has repeatedly derided Powell’s leadership of the Fed and attacked him, often personally, over what he sees as the Fed chair’s slow moves to cut interest rates. On Wednesday, he dismissed concerns that eroding central bank independence would undermine the value of the U.S. dollar and spark inflation, telling Reuters, “I don’t care.”
Georgieva said the IMF looked carefully at issues such as monetary and financial stability, as well as the strength of a country’s institutions. It was specifically interested in the Fed, given the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
“It would be very good to see that there is a recognition … that the Fed is precious for the Americans. It is very important for the rest of the world,” she said.
Trump has also attempted to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, who has challenged her termination in a legal case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.
B.C. Premier David Eby spoke to reporters on Thursday morning from Mumbai, India, during his six-day trade mission.
He said that mining and energy companies in India are showing an interest in B.C.
“They are looking strongly to LNG as one of their ways of reducing carbon intensity, as well as reducing smog in the country,” Eby said.
“And so B.C. LNG has been an item of considerable interest, especially the projects that are reaching final investment decision over the next year — LNG Canada Phase 2, KSI Lisims LNG — as well as the projects that are under construction like Woodfibre LNG.”
Eby was also asked about the rise in extortion cases in B.C.
He said the province’s extortion task force will provide an update next week.
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“We have assembled a remarkable and historic task force, RCMP, CBSA,” Eby said.
“There are more police in Surrey right now than there have ever been. The RCMP has surged resources into the community.”
Eby said he has not been happy with the fact that there has been no update from the task force and he has asked them to provide one.
“There have been some important developments, people deported, an arrest here in India, cooperation between the Indian government and the Canadian government on this at the law enforcement level,” he added.
“That needs to continue, but, bluntly, we need better results, we need to see more arrests and whatever we can do to support the police to get the job done, we will do so.”
As of Jan. 12, Surrey police said there have been 16 reported extortion incidents in the city since the beginning of the year.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Amid persistent doubts over the future of the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA), Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard insisted on Thursday that the agreement remains firmly intact and that the three countries will close a deal to extend it.
“We’re already in the treaty review phase, and we have to finish by July 1; that’s our deadline,” Ebrard said during Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily morning press conference.
“We have made good progress on all the points that concern each of the parties.”
Ebrard’s comments were his first on the topic since U.S. President Donald Trump again cast doubt on the treaty’s future earlier this week.
“There’s no real advantage to it, it’s irrelevant,” Trump said on Tuesday, as he toured a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan.
The trilateral trade agreement, known as USMCA, replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020 and is a backbone of Mexico’s economy.
The treaty, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term, requires the three countries to hold a joint review this year to extend the pact.
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If extended, the treaty will remain in place another 16 years. If not, it is subject to annual reviews.
Technically, July 1 is a key date in the treaty’s review process, but many analysts expect negotiations to extend late into 2026 and said Trump will likely avoid extending the treaty before the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Trump’s recent threats to pursue military action against cartels have also added a new layer of uncertainty to U.S.-Mexico relations.
“I think Ebrard is betting on a best-case scenario, but the window for a July successful review is closing fast,” said Alexia Bautista, a former Mexican diplomat and lead Mexico analyst at the political risk consultancy firm Horizon Engage.
“Given recent events and statements, the risk is that Trump injects security into the process, turning the trade review into a far more political negotiation.”
Pedro Casas, chief executive of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, said he expects the U.S. will continue imposing tariffs on a wide spectrum of Mexican exports, regardless of the treaty’s future.
The Trump administration has imposed sweeping 50 per cent duties on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S., along with a 25 per cent tariff on cars shipped from Mexico, even when those vehicles comply with the terms of the trade deal.
“I think the most likely scenario is a positive review process where we agree to extend the treaty for another 16 years, but steep tariffs still remain on Mexican exports that undermine the strength of the agreement,” Casas said.
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
B.C. Premier David Eby says province’s LNG, mining of interest to India TenX News
Mexico confident CUSMA will remain as Trump suggests it could expire – National TenX News
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