Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to remain in custody

Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for leading protests at Columbia University in New York, will remain in the Louisiana detention center where he is being held, the court ruled during a brief hearing Wednesday.

The investigating judge in the case, Jesse Furman, assured that he would accept that Khalil's lawyers have privileged communication - through phone calls - with his client twice, as long as the defense requested it.

What the lawyers did request was that Khalil be moved to a facility in New York state, to be closer to his residence.

Khalil's defense: "It was a kidnapping"

Khalil's wife, Shazza Abboushi Dallal, who is also a member of the pro-Palestinian activist's defense team, also attended the hearing.

Dallal read a statement on the sidelines of the court. The lawyer called for the "immediate" release of her husband, assuring that "he was kidnapped" and that it is a "shameful" case for the country.

Another of his lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, shared the same version as Dallal: "He was kidnapped by agents of the US government in retaliation, basically, for exercising his First Amendment rights, for speaking out in defense of the Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, for being critical of the US government and the Israeli government. Those are the reasons he was targeted."

Homan: Khalil is "a threat to national security"

While the judicial process has only just begun, statements coming from both sides of the political spectrum continue to pour in. The latest to speak out was Tom Homan.

The border czar called Khalil a "national security threat" while asserting that to reside in the United States, one must abide by a set of rules.

"When you are on campuses -- I hear 'freedom of speech,' 'freedom of speech' -- can you stand in a movie theater and yell fire? Can you slander? Free speech has limitations," Homan said during an appearance. "Coming to this country either on a visa or becoming a resident alien is a great privilege, but there are rules associated with that. You might have been able to get away with that stuff in the last administration, but not this administration."

For her part, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Khalil "sided with terrorism" even though he "had the privilege" of studying at Columbia University.

Democratic Party calls for Khalil's release

On the other political side, 14 congressmen belonging to the most extremist wing of the Democratic Party signed a letter calling for Khalil's release.

This group is made up of: Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan, Nydia M. Velazquez, Delia C. Ramirez, Ilhan Omar, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley, Lateefah Simon, Al Green, Gwen S. Moore, André Carson, Nikema Williams, James P. McGovern and Jasmine Crockett.