Latest news with #ImmigrationDetention
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released from US custody
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released on Friday from US federal immigration detention, freed after 104 days by a judge's ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. He is expected to head to New York to reunite with his US citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue,' he said outside the facility in a remote part of Louisiana. 'This shouldn't have taken three months.' The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil was released after US district judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal US resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk, and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.'
National Post
13 hours ago
- Politics
- National Post
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed after 104 days of immigration detention
JENA, La. — Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released Friday from federal immigration detention, freed after 104 days by a judge's ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests. Article content The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. He is expected to head to New York to reunite with his U.S. citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. Article content 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue,' he said outside the facility in a remote part of Louisiana. 'This shouldn't have taken three months.' Article content Article content The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil for his role in anti-Israel protests. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan. Article content Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. Article content 'Petitioner is not a flight risk, and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.' Article content During an hourlong hearing conducted by phone, the New Jersey-based judge said the government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention. Article content The government filed notice Friday evening that it's appealing Khalil's release. Article content Khalil was the first person arrested under Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. Article content The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be deported as it considers their views antisemitic. Protesters and civil rights groups say the administration is conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel in order to silence dissent. Article content Article content Farbiarz has ruled that the government can't deport Khalil on the basis of its claims that his presence could undermine foreign policy. But the judge gave the administration leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application, an accusation Khalil disputes.
Al Arabiya
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Judge says he will order Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from detention
A federal judge says he'll order Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released from immigration detention. Judge Michael Farbiarz made the ruling from the bench in federal court in New Jersey on Friday. Lawyers for the Columbia graduate had asked a federal judge to immediately release him on bail from a Louisiana jail or else transfer him to New Jersey where he can be closer to his wife and newborn son. Khalil was the first arrest under President Donald Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. The same judge had ruled earlier that the government can continue to detain the legal US resident based on allegations that he lied on his green card application. Khalil disputes the accusations that he wasn't forthcoming on the application. The judge previously determined that Khalil couldn't continue being held based on the US secretary of state's determination that he could harm American foreign policy. Khalil, a legal US resident, was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His lawyers say the Trump administration is simply trying to crack down on free speech. Khalil isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. The international affairs graduate student served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists. He wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country, as it considers their views antisemitic.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Malaysia: End Arbitrary Arrest, Detention And Torture Of Refugees
(KUALA LUMPUR, June 18, 2025)—Malaysian authorities must end the use of torture in their Immigration Detention Centers (IDCs) and stop their arbitrary arrest raids against migrants, Fortify Rights said today. Several refugees, arbitrarily arrested and detained as part of a new campaign of immigration raids, told Fortify Rights that they were beaten, forced to maintain stress positions or stripped naked for prolonged periods, humiliated, and denied basic necessities while in detention. 'The use of violence and humiliation against refugees is unlawful and inhumane,' said Yap Lay Sheng, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. 'Individuals seeking safety and protection from persecution are being met with mass arrest raids, discrimination, and abuse at the hands of Malaysian officials. The government must end its approach of indiscriminate raids to solving the problems of irregular migration.' While ostensibly targeting undocumented migrants, the recent raids have resulted in the arbitrary arrest and detention of refugees, registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia. Fortify Rights interviewed 17 victims and eyewitnesses of the recent immigration raids in Kuala Lumpur, Klang, and Muar, including former immigration detainees, their family members, humanitarians, and social workers. The interviewees include ethnic Rohingya, Rakhine, Bamar, Mon, and Kachin refugees from Myanmar. They described a dramatic surge in immigration raids in recent months that included arbitrary arrests and detention of refugees. Fortify Rights' analysis of publicly available data shows that arrests for immigration-related offences have more than tripled in the past two years. Several refugees also told Fortify Rights how they were tortured while in the custody of Malaysian immigration authorities. 'Saiful,' a 58-year-old Rohingya refugee registered with UNHCR, who was detained in the Semenyih IDC in early 2025, told Fortify Rights that immigration officers tortured detainees as a form of punishment. 'The officers told them [the detainees] to hold their ears and repeatedly sit down and stand up a hundred times,' Saiful said, 'They [the detainees] were stripped naked of whatever they were wearing, even their underwear.' Another Rohingya refugee, 'Amar,' 25, described verbal abuses while being strip-searched in Semenyih IDC in February 2025: They told us to take off our clothes. … We took off the clothes and I felt shame to see all my people [treated] like this. Then they told us to sit and they said that we are doing wrong things in their country. … They called us animals, called us dogs. Rohingya refugee 'Abdul,' 21, who was arrested and detained in the Semenyih IDC in early 2025, told Fortify Rights: We were beaten in the IDC for talking. … Immigration officers came and beat us with black pipes on the soles of our feet. … They also beat us because the water they provided was too little … When we went to ask for more water, we were beaten. 'Hanif,' 30, a Rohingya refugee who was detained in the Bukit Jalil IDC in January 2025, also told Fortify Rights the torture he witnessed: There were these three people who were interrogated. … I saw the officer smashing the phone on [one of the detainees'] forehead with the front screen. I saw that it was hurting him and he kept smashing until the phone screen broke. … I saw that he was in pain. He was crying. In February 2024, 'Razia,' 34, visited her husband at a police station where he had been detained on immigration-related charges, despite being a UNHCR-registered refugee. Razia told Fortify Rights that her husband showed signs of ill-treatment, '[M]y husband's face was swollen. There was blood on his nose and his mouth. Before this [her visit], they had already beaten him.' During Razia's visit with her husband, she witnessed police officers beat him: For that one hour, … I could see my husband, but they didn't give me permission to speak to him. When I tried to talk to him, … a policeman said, 'We already told you, you cannot talk with your husband.' At that time, one policeman came [to Razia's husband] held his collar, then he punched his face. He punched his eye once. And they [police officers] pushed him around a lot of times. Razia's husband was then moved from the police station, but despite making direct requests to the police for information, Malaysian authorities have failed to tell Razia where her husband is. She has not seen or heard from him for more than a year. 'I want to know where my husband is and I want to meet him again,' she told Fortify Rights. For more than a year, her husband's whereabouts is unknown in what may amount to a case of a government-enforced disappearance. On March 31, 2024, the Malaysian government launched a year-long 'Migrant Repatriation Programme,' a program that offered irregular migrants an amnesty in exchange for agreeing to be repatriated to their home countries. Concurrently, immigration officials have vowed to 'ramp up immigration operations nationwide … to create an ecosystem that is unconducive for illegal immigrants.' Some migrants hail from Myanmar, where they cannot safely return. On May 17, 2025, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail extended a further one-year extension to the programme. At the same time, the minister warned, 'The immigration enforcement division has been instructed to redouble enforcement operations to detect and arrest any illegal migrant that still refuses to participate in the program.' Data disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs shows that between January and May 13, 2025, immigration authorities have arrested 34,287 individuals, totalling an average of about 7,800 arrests per month for the first four months of this year. Fortify Rights's calculations show a surge in the average number of immigration-related arrests from 2024, at approximately 3,900 per month and a more than threefold surge in arrests compared to the average monthly arrest of about 2,300 in 2023. Refugees caught up in these raids reported that immigration officers ignored evidence of refugee status, including cards issued by UNHCR confirming the cardholder's need for international protection, and in some cases discarding or destroying the official UN documents. 'Our refugee card is not valid, has no value, at that time,' Amar, a UNHCR-registered Rohingya refugee, told Fortify Rights. 'When I showed them … They said, 'This card is useless, no need to share U.N. cards. If you have passports, then show me.'' Another UNHCR-registered ethnic Rakhine refugee from Myanmar, 'Tun,' 47, whose workplace in central Kuala Lumpur was raided in October 2024, told Fortify Rights that the authorities threatened him, 'Your UNHCR card is not valid, I will tear it up and lock you up.' Once in detention, former detainees and family members tell Fortify Rights that contact with the outside world, including family, legal representatives, and UNHCR, is extremely limited. Some detainees manage to call friends or family only after paying hefty bribes. Tun tells Fortify Rights, 'I paid 300 ringgit [US$68] to speak for half an hour. We have to hide behind the door … to avoid the CCTV.' 'Saira,' 29, described the ordeal of speaking to her Rohingya relative who was arrested in December 2024, 'After she was arrested, she called me … For three minutes, we have to pay 150 ringgit [US$34]. … I deposited money into [the officer's] personal account.' Due to this difficulty, social workers and representatives of community-based organizations, who are often first responders to immigration raids, told Fortify Rights that without timely access to the detainee or their family members, it becomes difficult to notify UNHCR or initiate the verification for their refugee status. Although Malaysia does not formally recognize UNHCR refugee status, in practice, authorities typically detain registered refugees for two weeks under a so-called 'verification' process. 'Kevin,' an aid worker who frequently responds to arrests in his community, told Fortify Rights that refugee detainees' access to protection often hinges on whether someone outside is able to alert UNHCR. We've seen a UNHCR cardholder detained past 14 days with no follow-through with UNHCR. … In another very similar case, … the family member informed UNHCR to follow through. So UNHCR was aware of the case and informed the depot where the person was held. Since August 2019, the Malaysian government has barred UNHCR from entering IDCs, hindering effective oversight and protection of refugees and other vulnerable individuals. The U.N. Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) defines torture as: Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. While Malaysia is not a party to the UNCAT, customary international law dictates that the right to be free from torture is non-derogable, meaning that it cannot be contravened, suspended, or limited under any circumstance, and that the prohibition on torture is universal, regardless of whether countries have formally joined UNCAT. Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention, and authorities do not formally recognize UNHCR cards as conferring legal status to cardholders. Under Malaysia's Immigration Act 1959/63, anyone who lacks a 'valid entry permit' is considered 'illegal' or 'prohibited' immigrants. Under Section 35 of the Act, officers can arrest 'without warrant' any person 'reasonably believed' to be liable for removal. Although Malaysia is also not a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention) or its 1967 Protocol, the Convention provides authoritative guidance on refugee protection under international law. Under the Convention, a refugee is defined as a person unable or unwilling to return to their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution. Article 31 of the Refugee Convention notes that refugees should not be penalized, including through arrest or detention, in relation to their irregular entry or stay in a country of asylum, recognizing the fact that individuals fleeing persecution cannot always obtain proper documentation or official authorizations. Failure to ratify international conventions is not a valid excuse for Malaysia to violate the rights of refugees, said Fortify Rights. 'Malaysia must end these indiscriminate immigration raids, provide formal refugee status to people whose lives are in danger in their home countries, restore UNHCR's full access to detention centers, and put in place clear safeguards so that no one fleeing persecution is tortured, arbitrarily arrested, detained or forcibly returned,' said Yap Lay Sheng. 'Refugees and asylum seekers must not be caught up in the dragnet of Malaysia's migration policies.'
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Mahmoud Khalil can remain jailed over claims he lied on green card application, judge says
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File) NEW YORK — A federal judge who barred the Trump administration from deporting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil declined Friday to order his release from an immigration detention center, saying the former Columbia University student hadn't yet proven he was being held illegally. The ruling is a setback for Khalil, who was detained in March. He had appeared to be close to winning his freedom after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz held that the government's initial effort to deport him on foreign policy grounds was likely unconstitutional. The New Jersey judge had given the Trump administration until Friday morning to appeal an order that could have led to Khalil's release. But the government filed court papers saying it believed it could continue detaining Khalil based on its secondary rationale for expelling him from the U.S. -- an allegation that he lied on his green card application. Farbiarz wrote in his Friday ruling that Khalil's lawyers hadn't presented enough evidence that detention on those grounds was unlawful and suggested that Khalil's next step could be to ask for bail from an immigration judge in Louisiana. One of Khalil's lawyers, Amy Greer, criticized the Trump administration's legal maneuvering as 'cruel, transparent delay tactics' meant to keep her client away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father's Day as a family. 'Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians,' she said in a statement. 'It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.' Khalil has previously disputed the notion that he omitted information on his application. In a filing last week, he maintained he was never employed by or served as an 'officer' of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, as the administration claims, but completed an internship approved by the university as part of his graduate studies. Khalil said he also stopped working for the British Embassy in Beirut in December 2022, when he moved to the U.S., despite the administration's claims that he had worked in the embassy's Syria office longer. Earlier Friday, Khalil's lawyers asked the judge to order his release, saying he had satisfied all of the court's requirements and that the government's lawyers had missed a morning deadline to challenge the judge's Wednesday ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is among the groups representing Khalil, also released a video Friday featuring actors Mark Ruffalo, Mahershala Ali and other celebrity fathers reading a letter Khalil wrote to his newborn son from jail ahead of his first Father's Day on Sunday. 'One day you might ask why people are punished for standing up for Palestine,' read Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. 'These are hard questions, but I hope our story shows you this: The world needs more courage, not less. It needs people who choose justice over convenience.' Khalil was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His was the first arrest under U.S. President Donald Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. Khalil's lawyers say the Trump administration is simply trying to crack down on free speech. Khalil isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. The international affairs graduate student served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists. He wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country as it considers their views antisemitic. Article by Philip Marcelo.
