Latest news with #Khalil
Yahoo
an hour ago
- General
- Yahoo
Federal judge says effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil likely unconstitutional
A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday said the federal government's detention of Mahmoud Khalil because of his pro-Palestinian advocacy at Columbia University is 'likely' unconstitutional — delivering a major blow to the Trump administration's crackdown on student protesters. U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz did not rule on whether Khalil's free speech rights were violated, but said his lawyers were expected to succeed in their claim an obscure provision of immigration law as applied to Khalil was so vague as to be illegal. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. Khalil, 30, was arrested on March 8 in his Columbia-owned apartment after the federal government moved to revoke his green card based on a rarely used section of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act that empowers the secretary of state to order someone deported if their presence is considered adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests. '(This) case, at least for now, is not about choosing between competing accounts of what happened at Columbia between 2023 and 2025. Or about whether the Petitioner's First Amendment rights are being violated,' Farbiaz wrote. 'Rather, the issue now before the Court has been this: does the Constitution allow the Secretary of State to use (the section) to try to remove the Petitioner from the United States? The Court's answer: likely not.' The Trump administration has framed support for Palestinians — which Khalil's grandparents were — as antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Khalil, however, has denounced the harassment of Jews and denied furthering the activity of Hamas. While an immigration judge in Louisiana has found Khalil deportable based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio's determination, his lawyers separately brought the federal court case to ask Farbiaz to weigh in on the constitutional issues at play. 'Our law asks about an 'ordinary person.' Would he know that (the provision) could be used against him based on his speech inside the United States, however odious it might allegedly have been?' the judge wrote. Again, Farbiarz answered no. Khalil was the first known international student to be taken into ICE detention as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on college protests. In the weeks that followed, multiple federal judges have moved to release student activists on bail. Khalil, however, remains in federal immigration custody in Louisiana, where he was forced to miss the birth of his first child and Columbia graduation. The court asked for more information in order to rule further on his request for bail and if not, his return to New Jersey. 'We will work as quickly as possible to provide the court the additional information it requested supporting our effort to free Mahmoud or otherwise return him to his wife and newborn son,' his legal team wrote in a statement. 'Every day Mahmoud spends languishing in an ICE detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, is an affront to justice, and we won't stop working until he is free.' Farbiarz said Khalil's lawyers, however, were not likely to succeed on their argument against a second claim by the Trump administration, which has to do with the paperwork he filled out while applying for permanent residency. In doing so, he denied a motion for a preliminary injunction on the matter. The federal government has claimed Khalil omitted his prior work at United Nations Relief and Works Agency from the application. Farbiarz said he would issue an order later Wednesday outlining next steps. _____
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Federal judge says effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil likely unconstitutional
A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday said the federal government's detention of Mahmoud Khalil because of his pro-Palestinian advocacy at Columbia University is 'likely' unconstitutional — delivering a major blow to the Trump administration's crackdown on student protesters. U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz did not rule on whether Khalil's free speech rights were violated, but said his lawyers were expected to succeed in their claim an obscure provision of immigration law as applied to Khalil was so vague as to be illegal. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. Khalil, 30, was arrested on March 8 in his Columbia-owned apartment after the federal government moved to revoke his green card based on a rarely used section of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act that empowers the secretary of state to order someone deported if their presence is considered adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests. '(This) case, at least for now, is not about choosing between competing accounts of what happened at Columbia between 2023 and 2025. Or about whether the Petitioner's First Amendment rights are being violated,' Farbiaz wrote. 'Rather, the issue now before the Court has been this: does the Constitution allow the Secretary of State to use (the section) to try to remove the Petitioner from the United States? The Court's answer: likely not.' The Trump administration has framed support for Palestinians — which Khalil's grandparents were — as antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Khalil, however, has denounced the harassment of Jews and denied furthering the activity of Hamas. While an immigration judge in Louisiana has found Khalil deportable based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio's determination, his lawyers separately brought the federal court case to ask Farbiaz to weigh in on the constitutional issues at play. 'Our law asks about an 'ordinary person.' Would he know that (the provision) could be used against him based on his speech inside the United States, however odious it might allegedly have been?' the judge wrote. Again, Farbiarz answered no. Khalil was the first known international student to be taken into ICE detention as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on college protests. In the weeks that followed, multiple federal judges have moved to release student activists on bail. Khalil, however, remains in federal immigration custody in Louisiana, where he was forced to miss the birth of his first child and Columbia graduation. The court asked for more information in order to rule further on his request for bail and if not, his return to New Jersey. 'We will work as quickly as possible to provide the court the additional information it requested supporting our effort to free Mahmoud or otherwise return him to his wife and newborn son,' his legal team wrote in a statement. 'Every day Mahmoud spends languishing in an ICE detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, is an affront to justice, and we won't stop working until he is free.' Farbiarz said Khalil's lawyers, however, were not likely to succeed on their argument against a second claim by the Trump administration, which has to do with the paperwork he filled out while applying for permanent residency. In doing so, he denied a motion for a preliminary injunction on the matter. The federal government has claimed Khalil omitted his prior work at United Nations Relief and Works Agency from the application. Farbiarz said he would issue an order later Wednesday outlining next steps. _____
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump administration's bid to deport Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional, judge rules
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration's effort to deport pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional, but the judge stopped short of freeing him from jail. Instead, Khalil must present further legal arguments for why he should be released, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote in a 106-page decision. Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and recent Columbia University graduate student, has not been charged with any crime. But he has been detained in Louisiana since March, after authorities arrested him in the lobby of his university residence and put him into deportation proceedings. Khalil was the first of a group of foreign-born pro-Palestinian academics who were swept up by the Trump administration even though they had green cards or valid student visas. Judges have ordered several of the other academics released from jail, but Khalil has remained locked up while fighting his deportation on two parallel tracks: Farbiarz's courtroom in New Jersey and a separate immigration court proceeding in Louisiana. During Khalil's time in jail, his wife gave birth to their first child. In seeking to remove Khalil from the country, the Trump administration invoked a rarely used provision of federal law that allows the deportation of any noncitizen if the secretary of State determined the person's 'presence or activities' in the U.S. 'would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.' Farbiarz, a Biden appointee, ruled Wednesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio likely acted unconstitutionally when he used that provision to target Khalil. Rubio, the judge wrote, never explained whether Khalil's activities 'affected U.S. relations with any other country,' and as a result, his use of the provision was likely 'unconstitutionally vague.' 'An ordinary person would have had no real inkling that a Section 1227 removal could go forward in this way,' the judge continued, referring to the section of federal law that contains the deportation provision. But that does not mean Khalil should automatically be released, Farbiarz wrote. The judge said he wants additional briefing on other issues, including the government's claim that Khalil omitted relevant information, including his membership in several organizations, when he applied for his green card. Khalil and his lawyers have argued that the administration is illegally retaliating against him for his role in organizing campus protests of the Israel-Hamas war. 'The district court held what we already knew: Secretary Rubio's weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional,' Khalil's lawyers said Wednesday in response to Farbiarz's ruling. 'We will work as quickly as possible to provide the court the additional information it requested supporting our effort to free Mahmoud or otherwise return him to his wife and newborn son.' While Khalil's case has been pending before Farbiarz, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil can be deported as a national security risk. Immigration judges are employees of the Justice Department and ordinarily do not grapple with constitutional questions as extensively as U.S. district judges. Khalil is expected to appeal the immigration judge's ruling. He cannot be deported immediately because Farbiarz previously barred the government from removing him from the country while his legal challenge is pending.
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Trump administration's bid to deport Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional, judge rules
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration's effort to deport pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional, but the judge stopped short of freeing him from jail. Instead, Khalil must present further legal arguments for why he should be released, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote in a 106-page decision. Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and recent Columbia University graduate student, has not been charged with any crime. But he has been detained in Louisiana since March, after authorities arrested him in the lobby of his university residence and put him into deportation proceedings. Khalil was the first of a group of foreign-born pro-Palestinian academics who were swept up by the Trump administration even though they had green cards or valid student visas. Judges have ordered several of the other academics released from jail, but Khalil has remained locked up while fighting his deportation on two parallel tracks: Farbiarz's courtroom in New Jersey and a separate immigration court proceeding in Louisiana. During Khalil's time in jail, his wife gave birth to their first child. In seeking to remove Khalil from the country, the Trump administration invoked a rarely used provision of federal law that allows the deportation of any noncitizen if the secretary of State determined the person's 'presence or activities' in the U.S. 'would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.' Farbiarz, a Biden appointee, ruled Wednesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio likely acted unconstitutionally when he used that provision to target Khalil. Rubio, the judge wrote, never explained whether Khalil's activities 'affected U.S. relations with any other country,' and as a result, his use of the provision was likely 'unconstitutionally vague.' 'An ordinary person would have had no real inkling that a Section 1227 removal could go forward in this way,' the judge continued, referring to the section of federal law that contains the deportation provision. But that does not mean Khalil should automatically be released, Farbiarz wrote. The judge said he wants additional briefing on other issues, including the government's claim that Khalil omitted relevant information, including his membership in several organizations, when he applied for his green card. Khalil and his lawyers have argued that the administration is illegally retaliating against him for his role in organizing campus protests of the Israel-Hamas war. 'The district court held what we already knew: Secretary Rubio's weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional,' Khalil's lawyers said Wednesday in response to Farbiarz's ruling. 'We will work as quickly as possible to provide the court the additional information it requested supporting our effort to free Mahmoud or otherwise return him to his wife and newborn son.' While Khalil's case has been pending before Farbiarz, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil can be deported as a national security risk. Immigration judges are employees of the Justice Department and ordinarily do not grapple with constitutional questions as extensively as U.S. district judges. Khalil is expected to appeal the immigration judge's ruling. He cannot be deported immediately because Farbiarz previously barred the government from removing him from the country while his legal challenge is pending.
India Today
4 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Deporting Mahmoud Khalil for political views likely unconstitutional: US judge
A federal judge has raised serious constitutional concerns about the Trump administration's attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a legal US resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University. Judge Michael Farbiarz said in a ruling on Wednesday that the effort to remove Khalil over his campus activism was likely unconstitutional, as reported by The Associated Press. However, the judge declined to release Khalil from detention, citing unresolved issues with his immigration was arrested on March 8 by immigration agents in the lobby of his university-owned apartment and later transferred to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, far from his legal team and his wife, a US citizen who gave birth to their child while he was in custody. His detention marked the first under President Donald Trump's expanded crackdown on student demonstrators protesting Israel's military actions in government claims Khalil failed to disclose certain personal information in his green card application. While Judge Farbiarz found that Khalil's legal team hadn't adequately addressed this point, he also sharply criticized a separate deportation order issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio invoked a rarely-used law citing 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences' to justify Khalil's removal. The judge warned that this could lead to 'arbitrary enforcement' and is likely lawyers argue his arrest and detention are part of a broader campaign to silence political dissent. The judge has said he will issue guidance on the next steps in the coming days. However, the State Department has not responded to inquiries about the a Palestinian-American and permanent US resident with a green card, was raised in a refugee camp in Syria and has had a varied professional journey, including a position at the British Embassy in Beirut. He graduated from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in December of last year. Khalil played a prominent role as the lead negotiator for the Columbia University Arab Delegation (CUAD) and was actively involved in the Gaza solidarity encampment held on campus last spring, where dozens of tents were set up in protest. (With inputs from Associated Press)
