Latest news with #TheDepartmentofHomelandSecurity
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
US judge orders release of pro-Palestinian Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil
A US federal judge has ordered the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was detained after joining pro-Palestinian protests. Judge Michael Farbiarz said Khalil's continued detention was causing "serious harm to his career, family, and freedom of speech". However, Khalil, a legal US resident, will stay in custody until at least Friday, June 13, while the government considers an appeal. He must also pay a $1 bond before he can be released. First arrest under Trump's crackdown Khalil was detained on March 8 by immigration agents in the lobby of his university housing. He was later sent to a detention centre in Louisiana. His arrest was the first under a crackdown by US President Donald Trump targeting pro-Gaza student protesters. Khalil's lawyers say his detention is an attempt to suppress free speech. "The court's decision is the most significant vindication yet of Mahmoud's rights," said Ramzi Kassem, one of Khalil's lawyers. "But we aren't out of the woods until Mahmoud is free and back home with his wife and child." Wife hopes for Father's Day reunion Khalil's wife, Noor Abdalla, a US citizen, said she hopes he can return to New York in time to celebrate his first Father's Day with their baby son, Deen. "This is the news we've been waiting over three months for," she said in a statement shared by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is also representing Khalil. US government plans to appeal The Department of Homeland Security stated that it would appeal the judge's ruling. 'Today's ruling delays justice and seeks to undermine the President's constitutionally vested powers under Article II,' said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the agency. 'We expect a higher court to vindicate us in this.' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed authority to deport Khalil under a rarely used law that allows the removal of people who pose 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States". But Judge Farbiarz had earlier said that trying to expel Khalil under that law was likely unconstitutional. Career at risk Judge Farbiarz noted that Khalil's green card had been revoked, and this had cost him a job offer from Oxfam International. He also said Khalil had avoided taking part in further protests, fearing more punishment. 'The Court finds as a matter of fact that the petitioner's career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled and this adds up to irreparable harm,' the judge wrote. Farbiarz underlined in his ruling that the government has also argued it is detaining and deporting Khalil in part because of alleged omissions on his green card application. But the judge said evidence presented by his attorneys showed lawful permanent residents are virtually never detained for such a thing.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Harvard sues Trump over foreign students ban
Harvard University is suing the Trump administration after the president banned it from enroling foreign students. Thousands of current international students were told on Thursday night that they must either transfer to another university or leave the United States after the order from the The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS). In a complaint filed in Boston federal court on Friday morning, the Ivy League university called Donald Trump's ruling a 'blatant violation' of the constitution and said it will have an 'immediate and devastating effect' on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders. 'With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,' Harvard said. 'It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government's demands to control Harvard's governance, curriculum, and the 'ideology' of its faculty and students,' the university added. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, ordered the termination of Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification. She accused Harvard of 'fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.' Harvard enroled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, 27 per cent of its student body. Chinese students make up more than a fifth of Harvard's international enrolment, according to university figures, and Beijing said the decision will 'only harm the image and international standing of the United States.' 'The Chinese side has consistently opposed the politicisation of educational cooperation,' foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. It said the revocation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people, and has thrown 'countless' academic programs, clinics, courses and research laboratories into disarray, just a few days before graduation. 'Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,' the university said in a statement. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
It's Your Call for May 6
Who will be left? Now, once St. Joe chases out all their reliable residents, who are they going to have left? Who's going to work these factories? Who's going to pay them sewer bills? Who's going to mow grass? Who's going to take care of the streets? Once they chase out everybody that's decent here, who are they going to have left? Nobody. So much for that Trump said, 'I don't know if I have to uphold the Constitution.' So much for the oath of office. It needs to stop The Department of Homeland Security ICE agents are operating like gangsters, picking up people without notice, wearing masks and plain clothes, refusing to show any identification, putting people in handcuffs and in unmarked vans and sending them to prisons without due process. This is not the way law enforcement works in a democracy under the U.S. Constitution, and it needs to stop now. A spineless congress I hope most people realize whether it is a Democrat president or a Republican president, the reason they have to use executive orders is because our congresspeople are gutless. And both parties, they're afraid they're going to go against someone's vote, and they might not get to stay in power and keep office and keep lining their pockets. That's why executive orders have become the norm, because we have spineless congresspeople.
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
New offers for buyouts and early retirement offered to Homeland Security staff
The Department of Homeland Security is offering buyouts and early retirement options to staffers, as the Trump administration pushes forward with efforts to reduce and reshape the federal workforce, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. In the email, titled 'Reshaping of the DHS Workforce," Secretary Kristi Noem said the department would give staffers who want to leave three options: deferred resignation, early retirement and a voluntary separation payment. The email, which was sent Monday night, said the last option offers a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 in some cases. Staff have until April 14 to decide on whether to apply for the offer. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about how many people are expected to take the offer or whether staff cuts would eventually follow. 'The American people deserve a government that works for them, something President Trump has promised," spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Every dollar spent and position filled at DHS should be focused on our core mission of securing our homeland and keeping the American people safe.' Homeland Security has so far avoided the widespread, sweeping layoffs seen in other agencies across the federal government. In fact, the department has been advertising on social media that it's looking for more staff in areas critical to immigration enforcement, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. Some areas of the department have seen cuts, including at a center focused on reducing targeted violence and terrorism. Also, 200 probationary FEMA employees were fired earlier this year, and three offices designed to provide oversight of the department were gutted. In the Monday email, Noem said the offers to workers 'reflect our commitment to aligning our workforce with evolving mission needs while supporting the personal and professional goals of our dedicated employees.' She said individual components within Homeland Security would give further guidance to staff about who is eligible and who would be excluded because they are 'mission critical frontline workforce.' Noem said that law enforcement officials would generally be exempt from the buyout offer. That's significant for Homeland Security, with law enforcement officers employed for many department functions such as Customs and Border Protection. Homeland Security was created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks to bring together 22 disparate agencies into one department. The sprawling department pulls together the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard, Secret Service, and key parts of the country's immigration and border security mission, among others.
NBC News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Prince Harry immigration records must be made public, U.S. federal judge rules
The Department of Homeland Security has until the end of Tuesday to comply with a federal judge's order and release Prince Harry's immigration records, which could reveal if he disclosed prior drug use before coming to America, according to court records. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had previously ruled in favor of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that's been seeking the records for several years under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Drug use itself isn't a disqualifying factor for a visa, but lying about it could be a greater challenge. In theory, if the younger brother of future U.K. king Prince William didn't disclose drug use on his visa application, that could be grounds to have him removed. In his 2023 memoir "Spare," Harry admitted to using cocaine, among other drugs. 'Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time. At someone's house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more,' he wrote in a Spanish language version of his book. 'It wasn't very fun, and it didn't make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different.' The federal government has fought efforts to air Harry's paperwork, saying the 'request does not meet the public interest standard set forth" in FOIA guidelines, according to defense lawyers. However, Judge Nichols has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and on Saturday said he'd reviewed proposed redactions from the government. "Those redactions appearing appropriate, the government is ordered to lodge on the docket the redacted versions of those documents no later than March 18, 2025," Nichols ruled. Administration officials and representatives for Prince Harry could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday. Prince Harry, who is also called "his Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David George of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, the Earl of Dumbarton, and Baron Kilkeel K.C.V.O.," stepped away from the royal family in early 2020. He, his wife Megan Markle and their children, Archie and Lilibet, live near Santa Barbara. 'I don't want to do that,' Trump said before taking aim at Markle, who has been critical of the president. 'I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible.'
