Faith leaders, activists hold press conference in LaSalle Parish as Mahmoud Khalil is set for release

JENA, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On June 13, 2025, a national interfaith delegation of faith leaders, activists, and community organizers in the weeklong “Freedom Ride in Defense of Democratic Rights” held a protest and press conference at the LaSalle Detention Center as Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist unjustly detained by ICE, is set to be released under a federal judges orders. According to officials, the Freedom Ride, comprising 20+ faith leaders and activists, kicked off on June 8, 2025, at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, N.j., and has made stops in Washington DC, Durham, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Birmingham.

Faith leaders, immigrant rights organizers, students, and artists will speak on the stripping away of due process and the escalating detention and deportation of immigrants under the Trump administration. June 13, 2025, coincides with Mahmoud Khalil’s possible release from LaSalle Detention Center. On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, federal judge Michael E. Bartz reportedly barred the Trump administration from continuing to detain Khalil.