US says it will keep detaining pro-Palestinian activist Khalil
FILE PHOTO: Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, U.S., June 1, 2024. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo
US says it will keep detaining pro-Palestinian activist Khalil
The U.S. government said on Friday pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil would remain in detention after a U.S. judge ruled foreign policy interests could not be used to justify confinement of the Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist.
Khalil's lawyers had called for his immediate release, but U.S. attorneys said in a letter to the judge they would keep holding him on other charges such as immigration fraud that were not addressed in the Wednesday ruling.
President Donald Trump has vowed to deport foreign students like Khalil in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which Trump has called antisemitic. Civil rights groups say Khalil's arrest and detention are an attack on protected political speech.
Lawyers for the Syrian-born activist were fighting for his release as Kilmar Abrego Garcia, another immigrant targeted by the Trump administration, pleaded not guilty to migrant smuggling charges after his wrongful deportation.
Marc Van Der Hout, a lawyer for Khalil, said the government practically never detained people for immigration fraud and he was being punished for opposing Israel's U.S.-backed war in Gaza following Hamas' October 2023 attack.
"Detaining someone on a charge like this is highly unusual and frankly outrageous," said Khalil's lawyer Marc Van Der Hout. "There continues to be no constitutional basis for his detention."
Newark, New Jersey-based U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz on Wednesday ruled the administration was violating Khalil's right to free speech by trying to deport him under a little-used law granting the U.S. secretary of state power to seek deportation of non-citizens whose presence in the country was deemed adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests.
The U.S. government has also said Khalil should be deported because he fraudulently withheld information from his application for a green card.
Khalil's lawyers said allegations he misrepresented himself in his application are spurious.
Farbiarz has written that lawful permanent residents are rarely detained on the basis of immigration fraud.
Khalil, a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's war on Gaza, was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan on March 8. He has since been held in immigration detention in Louisiana.
Khalil's U.S. citizen wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, gave birth to the couple's first child while Khalil was detained in April. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
37 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Iran weighs retaliation for U.S. strikes as Trump raises idea of regime change
A boy rides a scooter near a damaged car at an impact site following Iran's strike on Israel, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Haifa, Israel, June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Florion Goga Satellite image shows an overview of Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, before it was hit by U.S. airstrikes, in Isfahan, Iran, June 16, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS A U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber returns after the U.S. attacked key Iranian nuclear sites, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, U.S. June 22, 2025 in a still image from video. ABC Affiliate KMBC via REUTERS People attend a protest against the U.S attack on nuclear sites, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 22, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex, after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran June 22, 2025. MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/Handout via REUTERS ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM - Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced on Monday for Tehran's response to the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites and U.S. President Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in the Islamic republic. Iran vowed to defend itself on Sunday, a day after the U.S. joined Israel in the biggest Western military action against the country since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, despite calls for restraint and a return to diplomacy from around the world. Commercial satellite imagery indicated the U.S. attack on Saturday on Iran's subterranean Fordow nuclear plant severely damaged or destroyed the deeply buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but the status of the site remained unconfirmed, experts said. In his latest social media comments on the U.S. strikes, Trump said "Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran." "The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government "must now make peace" or "future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier." The U.S. launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the U.S. strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim. Tehran, which denies its nuclear programme is for anything other than peaceful purposes, sent a volley of missiles at Israel in the aftermath of the U.S. attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv. But it had not acted on its main threats of retaliation, to target U.S. bases or choke off the global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Attempting to strangle the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the U.S. Navy's massive Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf. Oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest since January. Brent crude futures were up $1.52 or 1.97% to $78.53 a barrel as of 0503 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced $1.51 or 2.04% to $75.35. Iran's parliament has approved a move to close the strait, which Iran shares with Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Press TV said any such move would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council, a body led by an appointee of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Caine said the U.S. military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. State Department issued a security alert for all U.S. citizens abroad, calling on them to "exercise increased caution." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the strait, telling Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" show it would be a "terrible mistake." "It's economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours," he said. The Israeli military said on Monday about 20 jets had conducted a wave of strikes against military targets in western Iran and Tehran overnight. In Kermanshah, in western Iran, missile and radar infrastructure was targeted, and in Tehran a surface-to-air missile launcher was struck, it said. A missile launched from Iran in the early hours of Monday was intercepted by Israeli defences, it said. Air raid sirens blared overnight in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel. Iranian news agencies reported air defences were activated in central Tehran districts to counter "enemy targets", and that Israeli air strikes hit Parchin, the location of a military complex southeast of the capital. Israel's state broadcaster reported that an Israeli Hermes drone was shot down in Iranian territory, the fourth to be shot down in the area since the start of the campaign. REGIME CHANGE In a post to the Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump raised the idea of regime change in Iran. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" he wrote. Trump's post came after officials in his administration, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stressed they were not working to overthrow Iran's government. Israeli officials, who began the hostilities with a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, have increasingly spoken of their ambition to topple the hardline Shi'ite Muslim clerical establishment. As Tehran weighed its options, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. The Kremlin has a strategic partnership with Iran, but also close links with Israel. Speaking in Istanbul on Sunday, Araqchi said his country would consider all possible responses and there would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated. Russia's foreign ministry condemned the U.S. attacks which it said had undermined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and warned of conflict spreading in the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss the U.S. strikes as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council the U.S. bombings in Iran marked a perilous turn in the region and urged a return to negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme. Commercial airlines were weighing how long to suspend Middle East flights after the U.S. struck Iran. The Middle East route has become more important for flights between Europe and Asia but flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed empty space on Sunday over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Japanese ships transiting Strait of Hormuz to minimise time in Gulf
FILE PHOTO: A cargo ship boat model is pictured in front of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) logo in this illustration taken March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo FILE PHOTO: A cargo ship boat model is pictured in front of the Nippon Yusen (NYK) logo in this illustration taken March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo TOKYO - Japan's Nippon Yusen and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said on Monday they have instructed their vessels to minimise the time spent in the Gulf as they continue to transit the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The shipping companies said they are closely monitoring the situation and sharing updates with ships operating in the region. "We are instructing our vessels to shorten their time in the Persian Gulf whenever possible, depending on their schedules," a Nippon Yusen spokesperson said. "We will make decisions on each vessel's passage through the Strait of Hormuz on a flexible basis," he added. MOL's safety operation supporting centre in Tokyo has stepped up 24-hour surveillance, a company spokesperson said. "We are advising vessels operating in the area to exercise maximum caution and providing them with latest information," he said, adding that their vessels have also been instructed to minimise the time in the Gulf. President Donald Trump said the U.S. had "obliterated" Iran's main nuclear sites in strikes over the weekend, joining an Israeli assault in an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself. Iran's Supreme National Security Council must make the final decision on whether to close the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Press TV said on Sunday, after parliament was reported to have backed the measure. Iran has long used the threat of closing the Strait, through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows, as a way to ward off Western pressure which is now at its peak following the U.S. strikes. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Small protests against the US attack in Iran sprouted up over the weekend
US Marines stand guard as demonstrators protest against the United States joining with Israel in attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, at a federal building in Los Angeles, California, on June 22, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS Small protests against the US attack in Iran sprouted up over the weekend Protesters in more than a dozen US cities demonstrated on June 22 against the Trump administration's airstrikes on Iran. Some rallies attracted hundreds, while others drew dozens. The overall turnout was far less than last weekend's 'No Kings' protests against President Donald Trump that were held in all 50 states. Many of the June 22 demonstrations, held in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles, were arranged late on June 21 and had been described by organisers as 'emergency mobilisations'. Demonstrators at several locations carried Iranian flags, and some held signs and placed banners across fences and buildings that read 'No War in Iran!' Outside the gates of the White House in Washington, at least 200 demonstrators condemned the president, including some veterans. 'He's trying to become a king,' said Mr Ron Carmichael, 78, who flew helicopters in the Vietnam War. In Chicago, more than 200 people attended a rally downtown. Mr Ali Tarokh, a resident who said he immigrated from Iran 12 years ago after being imprisoned for political activities for two years, described the news of the airstrikes as 'the worst thing that could have happened'. Although he opposes the Iranian leadership, Mr Tarokh said slow change was the only way to reform the government. 'Regime change is kind of impossible over there,' he said, adding that Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have only impeded any transition to a democratic society. Some protesters said that the escalating conflict with Iran would further the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In Los Angeles, Ms Noor Abdel-Haq, a 26-year-old nurse, said she came out because of her personal ties to the tensions in the Middle East. Most of her family lives in Gaza or the West Bank, she said. 'We don't want more murder and destruction.' Ms Abdel-Haq was among the scores of people who assembled in the Westwood neighborhood in a peaceful demonstration. Nearby, a small contingent of Marines and federal agents stood wearing tactical gear and carrying rifles. In 98 deg F (36.7 deg C) heat in Richmond, Virginia, Ms Violeta Vega, 23, an in-home care worker and a leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Richmond, led protesters at Abner Clay Park in chants that included 'Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation'. The crowd numbered in the dozens. After the rally, her voice raspy, Ms Vega said the gathering was necessary. 'I felt empowered knowing that this was a day of action around the country,' she said. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
