Latest news with #MahmoudKhalil
New York Times
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Times
State Dept. Official Says Criticism of Israel Can Lead to Visa Revocations
A senior State Department official testified Friday that his office, which the Trump administration has tasked with vetting foreign students' social media posts and revoking student visas, has operated this year without a working definition of 'antisemitism' and routinely considers criticism of Israel as part of its work. The testimony, at the end of a two-week trial focused on the Trump administration's efforts to deport students such as Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk and others, helped build the case by the academic groups behind the lawsuit, who have argued that the government systematically targeted students based on their remarks about Israel. During a heated back-and-forth in Federal District Court in Boston, John Armstrong, the senior bureau official in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, said that the State Department regularly took into account speech or actions that it saw as hostile toward Israel. Pushed for examples of things he might consider in weighing whether to deny or revoke a student's visa, Mr. Armstrong testified that calls for limiting military aid to Israel or 'denouncing Zionism' could all factor in his agency's decisions. 'In your view, a statement criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza could be covered depending on the statement, right?' asked Alexandra Conlon, a lawyer representing the organizations behind the lawsuit. 'Yes, depending on the statement, it could definitely,' he said. 'You say that they're worse than Hitler with what they're doing in Gaza? — that would be a statement that, I think, would lead in that direction that you seem to be going, counselor.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Ex-Columbia Student Wins Ruling Blocking Deportation, for Now
Politics A federal judge said the US can't immediately deport Mahmoud Khalil, blocking the Trump administration's attempts to get another court to give it permission to ship the former Columbia University graduate student out of the country. The ruling Thursday by US District Judge Michael Farbiarz said the immigration court didn't have the authority to deport Khalil while a June 11 order by Farbiarz blocking such a move was still in place. The ruling, however, directs the immigration court to take another look at the issue under new guidance from Farbiarz.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
How would the Trump administration denaturalize immigrant citizens?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The next step in the Trump administration's deportation campaign is here. The Department of Justice will prioritize stripping citizenship from naturalized Americans it says have violated the law, a process known as denaturalization. Denaturalization gives the White House "another tool to police immigrants' free speech rights," said Axios. The administration has already used the deportation process to target immigrant students who criticized Israel's war on Gaza, including green-card holder Mahmoud Khalil. The Justice Department guidance says denaturalization proceedings will be focused on "terrorists," as well as people convicted of "war crimes," "extrajudicial killings" and "human rights abuses." The denaturalization program is an attempt to "protect the nation from obvious predators, criminals and terrorists," said The Heritage Foundation's Hans von Spakovsky. But immigration experts "expressed serious concerns about the effort's constitutionality," said NPR. The Justice Department will pursue denaturalization in civil courts, which require a lower burden of proof for the government to win. They also do not require that defendants be furnished with an attorney. The Trump administration is "trying to create a second class of U.S. citizens" with fewer rights, said Sameera Hafiz, the policy director of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. "Aggressive" denaturalization is at odds with "constitutional principles of citizenship," Cassandra Burke Robertson and Irina D. Manta, law professors at Case Western University and Hofstra Law School, respectively, said at MSNBC. There is an unsavory history: "Denaturalization was relatively rare" for most of American history but "spiked during the Red Scare era." The Supreme Court in the 1960s limited denaturalization to those who had "illegally procured" citizenship through fraud or failing to meet naturalization requirements. Going beyond that represents the sort of "arbitrary governmental authority the Constitution was designed to prevent." Pursuing denaturalization in civil courts lets the Trump administration paint potential deportees as "criminal" while "avoiding the safeguards of an actual criminal court," said Rafia Zakaria at The Nation. There is no statute of limitation on civil denaturalizations, allowing Justice Department lawyers to "target U.S. citizens who were naturalized decades earlier." But there is more than citizenship at stake: The threat of denaturalization will allow the Trump administration to tamp down on dissent from migrant citizens "who know that they could either face deportation or massive debt" from attorneys' fees. Either way, the "Trump administration wins." Republicans already have a political target for denaturalization: Uganda-born Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayoral candidate. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) has called on the Justice Department to strip Mamdani of citizenship, said Semafor. Mamdani's membership in the Democratic Socialists of America "would have disqualified him" from citizenship because it is a "communist organization," Ogles said. If those claims are "true, it's something that should be investigated," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Mamdani was defiant in response. New York is "my home," he said on X. "And I'm proud to be a citizen, which means standing up for our Constitution."
Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Mahmoud Khalil claims Trump administration used ICE detention to silence activism on Gaza
Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil has spoken out about his prolonged detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), alleging it was politically motivated due to his activism in support of Gaza. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Khalil said he believes the Trump administration targeted him as part of a broader effort to intimidate those advocating for Palestinian rights. 'They want to conflate any speech for the right of Palestinians with speech that supports terrorism, which is totally wrong,' Khalil told CNN, asserting that his 100-plus days in detention were an attempt to make an example of him and discourage similar activism. A legal permanent resident, Khalil was arrested in March without any criminal charges filed against him. He described harsh treatment during his transfer to a Louisiana detention facility, including being shackled and arriving with a severely swollen leg that made it difficult to walk. While in custody, Khalil was denied temporary release to attend the birth of his child. 'It was the most difficult moment in my life,' he said, calling the situation avoidable and unnecessarily punitive. Khalil was involved in campus demonstrations urging Columbia University to divest from companies allegedly complicit in violence in Gaza. He emphasized the peaceful nature of the protests and suggested his detention sends a chilling message: 'Even if you are a legal resident, even if you are a citizen, actually, we will find a way to come after you.' His legal team has filed a $20 million claim, accusing the government of political retaliation. A White House spokesperson told Axios that Khalil had 'consistently engaged in conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests.' The case continues to raise concerns about free speech and the potential use of immigration enforcement as a political tool.
Egypt Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
‘I knew I would prevail': Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil talks to CNN about his months in ICE detention
CNN — Detained for more than 100 days without charge, and with the threat of deportation looming over him, Palestinian student activist Detained for more than 100 days without charge, and with the threat of deportation looming over him, Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil was convinced he would eventually prevail. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Khalil, who is now back with his young family, describes the months languishing in a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, and the pain of being denied permission to be present at his son's birth. 'It was a very, very dehumanizing experience, for someone who was not accused of any crime, whatsoever,' said Khalil, a green card holder who had no formal criminal or civil charges brought against him. His detention sparked outrage across the US. On Thursday Khalil's lawyers filed a claim against the Trump administration for $20 million in damages, alleging he was falsely imprisoned, prosecuted and portrayed as antisemitic as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security in a statement called Khalil's claim 'absurd.' His arrest outside his apartment on Columbia University's campus in New York City in March, as he returned home from a dinner with his wife, felt like a 'kidnap,' he told Amanpour. Plainclothes agents had followed him into the lobby of his building, and threatened his wife with arrest if she didn't separate from him, he said. CNN has previously reported that the ICE agents did not have a warrant during Khalil's arrest. Khalil was among the first in a series of high-profile arrests of pro-Palestinian students as US President Donald Trump's administration moved to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses. The 30-year-old, who was born in a refugee camp in Syria before going on to graduate from Columbia, had played a prominent role negotiating on behalf of pro-Palestinian protesters at the university. Once taken, he was moved first to New Jersey, then to Texas, and finally to an ICE detention center in Louisiana – more than 1,000 miles away from his wife, a US citizen, who was then eight months pregnant. 'I was literally moved from one place to another, like an object,' he recalled, referring to his transfers to different detention facilities. 'I was shackled all the time,' he said. But, he said, the days in the detention center never broke his spirit. 'From the moment that I was detained, I knew that I would eventually prevail,' he said. 'What I simply did is protesting a genocide.' Israel has repeatedly pushed back against claims its war in Gaza is a genocide. Protesters rally in support of detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in March in New York. Jason DeCrow/AP The food in the ICE center in Louisiana was nearly 'inedible,' he said. After being served meat that made him vomit, he switched to vegetarian options, he said. The center was bitterly cold, but repeated requests for blankets were ignored, he said. 'The moment you enter such ICE facilities, your rights literally stay outside,' he told Amanpour. CNN has previously reached out to ICE for comment about the conditions at its Louisiana facilities – its policies indicate detention is non-punitive. The GEO Group, the corporation that runs the facility where Khalil was held, has denied allegations of abuse. The Trump administration has argued that Khalil's actions pose a threat to its foreign policy goal of combatting antisemitism. His lawyers have vehemently pushed back on that assertion. After accusing him – without evidence – of being a Hamas sympathizer, the Trump administration, who sought Khalil's deportation, said it was justified because he did not reveal connections to two organizations in his application to become a permanent US resident. His attorneys have said that argument is weak. Khalil told Amanpour the Trump administration's allegations against him were 'absurd.' 'They want to conflate any speech for the rights of Palestinians with speech that's supporting terrorism, which is totally wrong,' he said. 'It's a message that they want to make an example out of me, even if you are a legal resident… that we will find a way to come after you, to punish you, if you speak, against what we want.' Khalil told the Associated Press that if his claim against the Trump administration is successful, he plans to share any settlement money with others targeted in Trump's 'failed' effort to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. In lieu of a settlement, he would also accept an official apology and changes to the administration's deportation policies. 'I couldn't hold him' Amid the inedible food, the cold, and fear he might be deported, one moment stood out as the hardest to bear – immigration officials denying him permission to be present at the birth of his firstborn child. Attorneys for Khalil in May said officials at the Louisiana center cited a 'blanket no-contact visitation policy' and unspecified security concerns as part of their reason to deny the request. 'Missing the birth of my child. I think that was the most difficult moment in my life… We put so many requests to be able, to attend that that moment,' Khalil said. 'I don't think I would be able to forgive them, for taking that moment away from, from me.' 'The first time I saw my child was literally through thick glass. He was literally in front of me, like, five centimeters away from me… I couldn't hold him. 'And when the moment came to hold him, it was by court order, to have one hour… with him.' Claire Calzonetti and Nadia Lee contributed to this report.
