Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil lamented leaving behind some “incredible men” on Friday as he left a Louisiana detention facility, which he hopes becomes a museum to what he described as “America’s racist policies.”
“I leave some incredible men behind me, over 1,000 people behind me, in a place where they shouldn’t have been in the first place,” Khalil told reporters after walking out of the La Salle Detention Facility in Jena, La.
“I hope the next time that I will be in Jena is to actually visit this as a museum on America’s racist policies against immigrants,” the former Columbia University student added.
Khalil said he’ll join his wife and child in New York after being released from a federal detention center in Louisiana. AP
After being picked up by federal immigration authorities on March 8, Khalil spent 104 days at the rural Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent resident for allegedly engaging in activities “aligned to Hamas,” a Palestinian terror group, while studying at Columbia.
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“The Trump administration are doing their best to dehumanize everyone here,” Khalil charged outside the detention center, “whether you are a US citizen, an immigrant, or just a person on this land doesn’t mean that you are less of a human.”
“[President Trump] and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this,” he said defiantly. “That doesn’t mean that there is a right person.”
Khalil, wearing a keffiyeh, went on to slam his alma mater, accusing the Ivy League school of “investing in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”
“There is no right person who should be detained, who are actually protesting a genocide, for protesting their university – Columbia University – that is investing in the genocide of the Palestinian people,” he said.
Newark federal Judge Michael Farbiarz, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, ordered Khalil’s release earlier Friday, finding that the Trump administration may be unfairly holding him in retaliation for his outspoken stance against Israel’s war with Hamas.
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Farbiarz determined that Khalil is not a flight risk and “not a danger to the community.”
Khalil said the Trump administration “chose the wrong person for this.” AP
The anti-Israel activist said the first thing he’ll do when he returns home to New York is “just hug my wife and son.”
Khalil’s wife, an American citizen, gave birth to their son in April while her husband was being held in the Louisiana facility.
“The only time I spent with my son was a specified one-hour limit that the government had imposed on us … so that means that now I can actually hug him and Noor, my wife, without looking at the clock,” Khalil said.
“The moment you enter this facility, your rights leave you, leave you behind,” he continued. “So, once you enter there, you see a different reality – just a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.”
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“But once you cross, literally, that door, you see that opposite side of what’s actually happening in this country.”
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin slammed Farbiarz ruling and told The Post she expects a higher court to order Khalil’s return to federal custody.
Khalil spent 104 days at the detention facility in Jena, La. DAN ANDERSON/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Mr. Khalil should be released or detained,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “On the same day an immigration judge denied Khalil bond and ordered him removed, one rogue district judge ordered him released.”
“This is yet another example of how out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining national security. Their conduct not only denies the result of the 2024 election, it also does great harm to our constitutional system by undermining public confidence in the courts.”
McLaughlin argued that “it is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America” and that the Trump administration “acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”
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“An immigration judge has already vindicated this position. We expect a higher court to do the same.”
RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – Louisiana Tech University’s College of Education and Human Sciences announced it has established a new Center for Literacy and Learning designed to expand evidence-based reading support for children and professional development for educators across North Louisiana.
The university’s Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership said the launch of the Center for Literacy and Learning at Louisiana Tech, also known as L3, will provide diagnostic assessments, tutoring and workshop opportunities, combining academic research with hands-on clinical practice.
“As literacy rates and reading achievement continue to present challenges across Louisiana and the nation, the Center for Literacy and Learning is rooted in supporting evidence-based instruction, applied research, and community partnerships,” said Dr. Dustin Whitlock, interim department head of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership.
Officials said planning for the center began more than a decade ago as faculty sought to expand literacy services for local schools and the surrounding community, but the effort faced delays due to space and funding challenges.
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University leaders said momentum increased after faculty partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education and literacy experts nationwide to create a professional learning course for Louisiana K-3 educators. The course, “The Science and Art of Teaching Reading,” focuses on structured literacy practices aligned with Science of Reading research. Louisiana Tech said funding connected to the course and the state education department helped make the center possible.
Megan Hunt, a teacher at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School, was selected to lead the center. Whitlock said Hunt brings a strong background in foundational literacy instruction and is working toward becoming a certified UFLI coach.
“Mrs. Hunt’s skill and expertise allow her to support both students and educators through high-quality literacy instruction and professional learning,” Whitlock said.
Hunt said the center is aimed at building long-term support for literacy instruction through collaboration with districts, families and community partners.
“Literacy affects all aspects of life and is ultimately how people access opportunity and how communities grow stronger,” Hunt said. “When children become proficient readers, it represents more than just academic progress; it changes the trajectory of their lives.”
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Local school leaders also praised the partnership. Michelle Thrower, K-2 facilitator for Lincoln Parish Schools, said professional development and resources connected to Louisiana Tech have supported literacy growth in the district.
“Our collaboration with Louisiana Tech has been a cornerstone of our success in elevating literacy proficiency across Lincoln Parish Schools,” Thrower said, citing DIBELS growth tied to the UFLI Foundations curriculum in K-2.
Louisiana Tech said the center will operate through three main components:
The Literacy Clinic
The Literacy Institute
The Literacy Resource Center.
The center is expected to provide individualized assessments, targeted intervention services, literacy workshops and educator professional development.
Officials said the components will be developed in phases over the next few years.
For more information, Louisiana Tech said the public can contact Dr. Dustin Whitlock at whitlock@latech.edu.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday that Louisiana was one of the few states chosen for a $134 million rare earth element initiative in a move that would give the U.S. more independence from China, Reuters reports.
ElementUSA has been awarded about $67 million for a rare earth refining facility projected to cost $850 million in St. John the Baptist Parish to ramp up its production of core material for military vehicles, naval ships and aircrafts.
Louisiana’s rare earth element initiatives are aimed at relocating the critical American minerals supply chain for electric vehicles, renewable energy and national defense. The minerals include bauxite residue, which is a waste product from aluminium production. The plant is expected to produce roughly 150-1,000 metric tons of rare earths annually.
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Oklahoma was also chosen to receive grant money for a refining facility in Tulsa.
A Department of Homeland Security watchdog report revealed that staff members at an ICE detention center in Louisiana used a prohibited chokehold to “gain control” of a person being held there and stabbed another in the hand with a pen when an officer could not close the door to a housing unit.
The newly released findings about Winn Correctional Center in central Louisiana follow the DHS inspector general’s review of video of the use-of-force incidents as part of an unannounced facility inspection. The report, which was published on the DHS website, also noted that the officer who stabbed the detainee with a pen was disciplined.
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Staff members failed to maintain safe and sanitary conditions, the report says, noting leaking vents and ceilings with insulation falling through. Staff members used napkins and Styrofoam containers to collect the water from the leaks, according to the report.
Scrutiny of conditions inside ICE detention centers that house more than 60,000 detainees has been growing.
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Earlier Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended his agency’s detention standards on Capitol Hill amid complaints about ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. That center has been the site of frequent protests.
Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-N.Y., accused Mullin of leaving detainees without food or medical care.
Mullin rejected the claims. “You can say all you want, but don’t accuse me of something that’s not accurate,” he said.
The inspector general made nine recommendations, ranging from environmental health and safety standards to proper handling of use-of-force incidents and maintaining food service standards.
ICE is working to address all of the issues, including by providing additional staff training, a spokesperson for the agency said.
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“These minor infractions included failing to provide detainees exercise equipment, record keeping errors and leaking vents. Another infraction included providing a shared computer for legal research that would allow other detainees to see other detainees’ case information,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for DHS said the report shows that the facility complies with detention standards.
“ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens,” the spokesperson said.
Winn Correctional is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country, housing more than 1,500 men. It opened in 1990, and ICE took it over from the state in 2019.
The report was produced after an unannounced inspection by the DHS inspector general, whose office recently got an infusion of $20 million and plans to boost its inspections from four to six per year to potentially as many as 40 to 60.
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ICE lists 70% of the 1,500 detainees at Winn as having “No ICE threat level,” meaning they do not have violent criminal histories.
Winn is an hour north of Alexandria, which is one of four hubs for ICE deportation flights around the country.
