Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist who has been detained in the US pending his deportation, has missed the birth of his son after being refused temporary release to attend the birth, his wife has said, Al Jazeera reports.

Noor Abdalla said on Monday that she gave birth to the couple’s first child in New York without Khalil present, after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made the “purposeful decision” to make her family suffer.

“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud,” Abdalla, a US citizen, said in a statement.

“ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.

“I will continue to fight every day for Mahmoud to come home to us,” Abdalla added. “I know when Mahmoud is freed, he will show our son how to be brave, thoughtful, and compassionate, just like his dad.”