NEW YORK (AP) — Federal immigration authorities denied Mahmoud Khalil’s request for a temporary release from detention to attend the birth of his first child, who was born Monday in New York, according to emails shared with The Associated Press.
Khalil, a Columbia University activist who has been held in a detention center in Jena, Louisiana for six weeks, requested a two-week furlough on Sunday morning, noting that his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, had gone into labor eight days earlier than expected.
His lawyers said he would be “open to any combination of conditions” to allow the release, including wearing an ankle monitor and attending regularly scheduled check-ins with immigration authorities.
Around 30 minutes later, Mellissa B. Harper, the New Orleans Field Office Director for U.S. Immigrations and Customs, wrote back: “After consideration of the submitted information and a review of your client’s case, your request for furlough is denied.”
Abdalla said she had to give birth to a baby boy on Monday in New York without her husband by her side, which she called “a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.”
“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud,” she added. “ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”
A message seeking comment was left with ICE officials.
Khalil is a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations at Columbia against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.
He was detained by federal agents in the lobby of his Manhattan apartment on March 8, the first arrest in President Donald Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.
The Trump administration has not accused Khalil of criminal conduct, but has argued he should be expelled from the country for his beliefs.
An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled earlier this month that the government’s assertion that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. posed “potentially serious foreign policy consequences” satisfied requirements for deportation.
A lawyer for Khalil said the ruling will be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
FILE - Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Exxon Mobil’s first quarter profit slumped to the lowest level in years, stung by weaker crude prices and higher costs.
The oil and gas giant earned $7.71 billion, or $1.76 per share, for the three months ended March 31. It earned $8.22 billion, or $2.06 per share, in the year-ago period.
The results topped Wall Street expectations, but Exxon does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research expected earnings of $1.74 per share.
Revenue totaled $83.13 billion, which fell short of the $84.15 billion that analysts were calling for.
Chevron also reported its lowest first-quarter profits in years, with per-share adjusted profit falling to $2.18 per share on revenue of $47.61 billion. Similar to Exxon, Chevron does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales. Analysts predicted earnings of $2.15 per share on revenue of $48.66 billion.
The last time first-quarter profits were this low for Exxon was in 2022 and for Chevron, in 2021.
This week, a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude fell below $60, a level at which many producers can no longer turn a profit.
“In this uncertain market, our shareholders can be confident in knowing that we’re built for this,” Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a statement Friday. “The work we’ve done to transform our company over the past eight years positions us to excel in any environment.”
Crude oil is down nearly 18% for the year to date, according to FactSet.
Oil prices plummeted last month, at one point sinking to a four-year low in anticipation of slowing economic growth due to a burgeoning trade war.
Trump announced far-reaching tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners April 2 and then reversed himself a few days later after a market meltdown, suspending the import taxes for 90 days. Amid the uncertainty for both U.S. consumers and businesses, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that the U.S. economy shrank 0.3% from January through March, the first drop in three years.
Tariffs on steel and other materials, used for everything from tools to drilling and storage, can have an outsized impact on oil companies and amplify the detrimental effect of falling oil and gas prices.
Those falling oil prices signal pessimism about economic growth and can be a harbinger of a recession as manufacturers cut production, businesses cut travel costs and families rethink vacation plans.
And there appears to be little appetite for turn off the spigots by some of the world's largest producers.
In December eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries signaled they would not cut production as they compete with production from non-allied oil producing countries.
The OPEC+ members decided at the time to postpone production increases that had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The plan had been to start gradually restoring 2.2 million barrels per day over the course of 2025.
That process was pushed back to April 1 and production increases will gradually take place over 18 months until October 2026.
Shares of Exxon Mobil rose slightly before the market open, while Chevron fell 2%.
FILE - This is the sign on a Exxon gas station in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)
FILE - Oil pumps work in the desert oil fields of Sakhir, Bahrain, Sept. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)
