Mahmoud Khalil denied release from ICE after Trump administration's ‘cruel and shocking' tactics, lawyers say
After a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from imprisoning and deporting Mahmoud Khalil on one set of legal grounds, lawyers for the government now argue the prominent Columbia University student activist is being detained for an entirely different reason.
On Friday morning, Khalil's legal team was preparing for his release from an immigration detention center in rural Louisiana, where he has been jailed for more than three months over the government's allegations that his Palestinian activism is a threat to foreign policy.
But lawyers for the government now argue Khalil is being detained over allegations that he lied on immigration documents.
District Judge Michael Farbiarz agreed to keep him in detention on those grounds, despite finding Khalil's ongoing detention unconstitutional just days earlier.
'Mahmoud Khalil was detained in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights,' Amy Greer, associate attorney at Dratel + Lewis and part of his legal team, said in a statement to The Independent.
'The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father's Day as a family,' Greer said.
'Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians,' she added. 'It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.'
Khalil was accused of 'antisemitic activities' for his role as a Palestinian student activist against Israel's war in Gaza.
Officials concede that he has not committed any crime, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sought to justify Khalil's arrest by invoking a rarely used law claiming that Khalil's presence in the United States undermines foreign policy interests of preventing antisemitism.
But on June 11, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the administration had unconstitutionally wielded the law against Khalil, whose 'career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled,' the judge wrote.
The government has 'little or no interest in applying the relevant underlying statutes in what is likely an unconstitutional way,' Farbiarz added.
The judge said the government could not detain and deport him on those spurious legal grounds.
He also said in his ruling that immigrants are rarely if ever imprisoned over alleged omissions in immigration documents. He even said an argument to keep Khalil over those allegations 'does not work.'
The judge said it is Rubio's 'antisemitism' memo — not the immigration paperwork charges — that 'drives' Khalil's detention.
But lawyers for the government on Friday claimed he was being detained over those paperwork allegations, which were not raised until more than a week after he was even arrested.
The government has accused Khalil of omitting details about his work history from his green card application. Khalil disputes that he was employed by or served as an 'officer' of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, as the administration claims. He had completed an internship approved by the university as part of his graduate studies.
Khalil's lawyers argue the Trump administration is only using those allegations as pretext to keep him detained if efforts to deport him for his activism were found to be unconstitutional.
He will remain inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, for now.
Khalil was stripped of his green card and arrested in front of his then-pregnant wife in their New York City apartment building on March 8. He was then sent to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, roughly 1,300 miles away from their home in New York.
His wife Noor Abdalla gave birth to their son in April. They met for the first and only time before his immigration court hearing last month.
Khalil and his legal team argue his arrest and detention — and attempted removal from the country, which is currently blocked by court order — are retaliatory violations of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law, among other claims.
His arrest sparked international outrage over the Trump administration's attempts to crush dissent against Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza. Rubio has said he 'proudly' revoked hundreds of student visas over campus activism, leading to several high-profile arrests of international scholars.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Cubs legend Sammy Sosa returns to Wrigley Field after 20-plus year hiatus
Legendary Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday before Chicago's afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners. Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs' team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle. Sosa became the face of the Cubs franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998 when he was named the NL's MVP. Sammy's home. Sosa, now 56, played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on 2 October 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to Atlanta. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball's biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs. The Cubs traded him to Baltimore with cash in February 2005 for three players. Sosa appeared to acknowledge using performance-enhancing drugs in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them. 'There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,' he said in the statement. 'I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.' On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team's clubhouse and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game. The Cubs remained mum, however, on any ceremony or event before or during Friday's game. In Thursday's 8-7 loss to Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a new team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96, set in 1994.
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Mahmoud Khalil gets incredible news three months after ICE threw Columbia activist in jail
A Columbia University activist was ordered freed by a judge three months after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took him into custody over claims he is a Hamas supporter. Mahmoud Khalil must be freed on bail, Judge Michael E. Farbiaz of the Federal District Court in Newark, New Jersey, ruled on Friday. Farbiaz ruled that none of the Trump administration's allegations against Khalil justified his continued detention. Developing story, check back for updates...
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Teresa Giudice has on-air MELTDOWN when quizzed about tax bill nightmare in excruciating interview
Teresa Giudice had an on-air meltdown when she was quizzed on her tax woes during a painfully awkward interview on Friday, The Real Housewives star, 52, who along with husband Luis Ruelas was hit with millions in tax liens this year, hung up after she was asked why she 'didn't pay her taxes for years' in an incendiary moment. The interview on Chicago 's WGN News began pleasantly enough as the star was asked if she would be appearing in The Real Housewives of] New Jersey reboot, to which she responded: 'I hope. I'm the OG, yes. So we'll see what happens. You'll have to ask Bravo for that.' However, her smile soon faded as host Larry Potash quipped: 'How is it that a family doesn't pay their taxes for years?' Giudice - who served 11 months in prison for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud in 2015 - asked who he was referring to, and when Potash responded 'your family' her reaction was swift. A visibly raging Giudice then said: 'Okay, I'm done now' before fumbling to hang up her phone. In March it was revealed that reality star Giudice and Ruelas, 49, had over $3 million in New Jersey state tax liens placed on them. Tax liens are a legal claim made on a person's assets if they fail or refuse to fully pay their taxes. If they fail to pay the amount of the judgment, the government would be able to seize their assets. According to the New Jersey Courts website, Teresa owes $303,889.20 in unpaid taxes in a judgement that was entered on March 20. Luis owes several times that amount, after a judgment saying he owes $2,569,842.06 was entered on March 6. That amount is on top of an earlier lien issued on December 12, 2024, for $163,523.94 in unpaid taxes. Teresa's former husband Joe Giudice was jailed for 41 months after he plead guilty in 2014 to 41 counts of bank, mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. He also admitted to not filing a tax return from 2004 through 2008. However, her smile soon faded as host Larry Potash quipped: 'How is it that a family doesn't pay their taxes for years?' Giudice - who served 11 months in prison for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud in 2015 - asked who he was referring to, and when Potash responded 'your family' her reaction was swift She hung up as the baffled hosts laughed Following his sentence, Joe was forced to move to Italy ahead of deportation hearings. Teresa was ultimately sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
