Judge demands Trump officials promptly detail legal grounds for deporting Mahmoud Khalil
A federal judge instructed the Trump administration on Wednesday to detail the legal precedent for its plan to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist whose presence in the country the government alleges could harm U.S. foreign policy interests.
District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark, New Jersey, ordered the administration to supply a catalogue of every case in which U.S. officials have employed the law being used against Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student.
The judge asked to know specifics behind U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination of the risks posed by Khalil’s presence in the U.S. He gave the government until 9:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT) on Thursday to respond.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Khalil was arrested in March at his apartment building in New York City in the presence of his wife, a U.S. citizen. Khalil became a permanent U.S. resident last year and has been detained without charges since his arrest.
The administration is seeking to deport Khalil under a section of immigration law that allows for the deportation of “an alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Trump administration officials have said student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war on Gaza, calling their actions a threat to U.S. foreign policy. [Continue reading…]