Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prevented detained Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil from holding his newborn son during a family visit, according to a report published by CBS News citing his legal team.
Khalil, 30, met his month-old baby for the first time behind a glass partition at a detention center in Louisiana, where he has been held since March. His wife, Noor Abdalla, traveled from New York for the visit, hoping for a contact meeting.
However, ICE officials and the private contractor operating the facility denied the family’s request for physical contact, citing the detention center’s no-contact visitation policy and vague “security concerns,” Khalil’s lawyers said.
That all happened yesterday.
This morning, ICE and/or the facility changed their mind. The no-glass meeting today with the attorney and wife was required by a court order. The court did not require the newborn to be admitted to the “attorney-client” meeting, but he was admitted anyway.
The legal authority for the court order was to enforce Khalil’s sixth amendment right to the assistance of counsel.