The Associated Press reports:

An immigration judge in Louisiana said she would terminate the case against Mahmoud Khalil if the government does not provide evidence this week justifying their attempted deportation of the Columbia University student activist.

At a hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the government 24 hours to provide evidence showing that Khalil, a 30-year-old legal permanent resident, should be expelled from the country for his role in campus protests against Israel and the war in Gaza. If the evidence does not support his removal, she said, “then I am going to terminate the case on Friday.”

Khalil has been held in a remote detention facility in Jena, Louisiana since his March 8 arrest by federal immigration authorities, the first in a growing number of attempted deportations against foreign-born students who joined pro-Palestinian protests or expressed criticism of Israel.

While the Trump administration has suggested that Khalil’s role as a spokesperson for protesters proved that he was “aligned with Hamas,” they have yet to produce evidence for the claim.

At Tuesday’s hearing, an attorney for Khalil, Marc Van Der Hout, said he had “not received a single document” in response to his request for “evidence and assertions” in the case. “We cannot plead until we know what the specific allegations are,” Van Der Hout said.

“I’m like you Mr. Van Der Hout, I’d like to see the evidence,” the judge replied. [Continue reading…]