1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I appreciate the time that your staffers have taken to respond to my letters. I understand that there are multiple dire dangers happening right now. With that said, as a constituent I am concerned over there being no clear, public statement condemning the unjust detention of Mahmoud Khalil and no clear statement demanding his release. I am usually a non-confrontational person, but given that a green card holder can be detained for dubious claims of supporting terrorists, I don’t know if I can trust you to advocate for and protect any green-card holding Virginians should they be detained for political speech not just on Palestine, but ANY speech against the Trump administration. As I am writing this, Mahmoud Khalil is still being detained on vague grounds of “supporting terrorists”. The reality is that he, along with Jewish peace activists, peacefully advocated for the liberation of the Palestinian people along with the safety of the Jewish people, stating: "As a Palestinian student, 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. Our movement is a movement for social justice and freedom and equality for everyone." Because of this dangerous injustice, I request that you: 1. Publicly condemn Khalil's detention 2. Call for his immediate release 3. Emphasize the importance of protecting the rights of individuals to express their opinions and advocate for social justice Your voice is crucial in standing against injustice, even if it occurs outside our local community. Take a stand for human rights and free speech.