Amanda Hurley
Tue, March 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM EDT
The Brief
What they're saying
Mamdani posted a photo of the dinner to social media on Monday, stating that he and his wife invited Khalil, his wife and their son to break their fast together.
The dinner also marked the one year since the Palestinian activist was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside his apartment in New York City.
"For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage," Mamdani said in the photo caption. "And yet, even in the face of that cruelty, there has also been beauty. New Yorkers raising their voices in solidarity. A city refusing to look away. Mahmoud won his freedom, and a father was finally reunited with his child."
- NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife hosted Mahmoud Khalil and his family at the Gracie Mansion this past weekend.
- It comes one year after the former Columbia University graduate was arrested by ICE.
- The Palestinian activist has since been freed, but his deportation case remains tied up in court.
NEW YORK CITY - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student arrested by ICE last year, and his family for Ramadan dinner at the mayor's residence this weekend.
What they're saying
Mamdani posted a photo of the dinner to social media on Monday, stating that he and his wife invited Khalil, his wife and their son to break their fast together.
The dinner also marked the one year since the Palestinian activist was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside his apartment in New York City.
"For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage," Mamdani said in the photo caption. "And yet, even in the face of that cruelty, there has also been beauty. New Yorkers raising their voices in solidarity. A city refusing to look away. Mahmoud won his freedom, and a father was finally reunited with his child."
The backstory
Khalil, a 30-year-old Palestinian born in Syria, was first arrested on March 8, 2025, in New York and transferred to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana. His wife, a U.S. citizen, gave birth to their first child while he was in custody.
His detention sparked remarkable outrage in New York City, where thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets in protest of his arrest.
After more than three months in custody, a Biden-appointed judge blocked Khalil’s deportation on foreign policy grounds and later ordered his release, ruling that he was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community. That decision allowed him to return to New York, where he reunited with his wife and newborn son.
Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities "aligned to Hamas," while the Trump Administration claims he failed to disclose information on his green card application.
In January, a federal appeals panel reversed the lower court decision that released Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.
The Source
Information from this article was sourced from the Instagram of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and previous reporting by FOX 5 NY.
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Mayor Mamdani slammed for ties to pro-Hamas activist | National Report
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