Immigration judge allows government to continue effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil
An immigration judge in Louisiana on Friday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its effort to deport Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, upholding one of the deportation grounds cited by the government.
Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans ruled that the administration’s determination that Khalil poses “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the U.S. is “facially reasonable” and makes Khalil deportable.
The judge gave Khalil’s lawyers until April 23 to file applications for relief to stop his deportation to Syria or Algeria on this ground. Khalil was born in Syria but is a citizen of Algeria, according to court documents.
Comans held in abeyance the second deportation ground cited by the Trump administration: a claim that Khalil committed immigration fraud because he allegedly omitted information about his work history in his green card application.
Comans made the determinations Friday afternoon, inside the courtroom of the privately operated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Jena where Khalil has been held for weeks.
Khalil, a vocal member of the protests at Columbia University over the war in Gaza, was arrested in early March by ICE, outside of his New York City apartment, where he lived with his pregnant U.S. citizen wife.
After Comans issued her ruling, Khalil, attired in a blue uniform and sandals, asked to be allowed to give remarks.
Khalil noted that the judge had previously talked about “due process and fundamental fairness,” and the former Columbia student said those principles were not followed in his case.
Khalil said the Trump administration shipped him “1,000 miles away” from his family. He concluded by telling the judge that the cases of other migrants detained here at the ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana should also be addressed with urgency.
After the hearing, Marc van der Hout, an attorney for Khalil, said in a statement, “Today, we saw our worst fears play out: Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing, and a weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent. This is not over, and our fight continues.”
“If Mahmoud can be targeted in this way, simply for speaking out for Palestinians and exercising his constitutionally protected right to free speech, this can happen to anyone over any issue the Trump administration dislikes,” van der Hout added. [Continue reading…]