Mahmoud Khalil update: Government must provide evidence in case Wednesday, judge says
Mahmoud Khalil deadline today
A federal judge has given the federal government a deadline to prove former Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil should be deported from the United States. FOX 5 NY's Briella Tomassetti has the story.
JENA, La. (AP) - An immigration judge in Louisiana said she would terminate the case against Mahmoud Khalil if the government does not provide evidence this week justifying their attempted deportation of the Columbia University student activist.
Mahmoud Khalil update
What we know:
At a hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the government 24 hours to provide evidence showing that Khalil, a 30-year-old legal permanent resident, should be expelled from the country for his role in campus protests against Israel and the war in Gaza. If the evidence does not support his removal, she said, "then I am going to terminate the case on Friday."
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Khalil has been held in a remote detention facility in Jena, Louisiana since his March 8 arrest by federal immigration authorities, the first in a growing number of attempted deportations against foreign-born students who joined pro-Palestinian protests or expressed criticism of Israel.
While the Trump administration has suggested that Khalil’s role as a spokesperson for protesters proved that he was "aligned with Hamas," they have yet to produce evidence for the claim.
Judge hears Mahmoud Khalil deportation case
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and legal U.S. resident, is fighting deportation after being detained by immigration officials over his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. FOX 5’s Linda Schmidt reports from Newark, New Jersey, where Khalil’s attorneys appeared before a federal judge on Friday. They argued for his release from an immigration detention center in Louisiana, calling his detention "Kafkaesque" and a threat to free speech.
At Tuesday’s hearing, an attorney for Khalil, Marc Van Der Hout, said he had "not received a single document" in response to his request for "evidence and assertions" in the case. "We cannot plead until we know what the specific allegations are," Van Der Hout said.
"I’m like you Mr. Van Der Hout, I’d like to see the evidence," the judge replied.
Khalil, who wore a navy blue T-shirt over a beige sweatshirt, spoke only briefly to request that his wife be permitted remote access to the hearing. The judge obliged, noting that more than 600 people were awaiting access to the proceeding in a virtual lobby. "This is highly unusual," Comans said.
Big picture view:
Khalil’s detention has sparked fury among free speech advocates, who accuse the Trump administration of seeking to squelch criticism of Israel by labeling peaceful activists as terror-supporters. Khalil, an international affairs graduate student, served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student protesters at Columbia, but was not among those arrested and has not been accused of any crime.
In seeking to deport Khalil and other student activists, the Trump administration has relied on a rarely-used statute that authorizes the Secretary of State to expel noncitizens who pose "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."
Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil talks to the press during the press briefing organized by Pro-Palestinian protesters who set up a new encampment at Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus on Friday evening, in New York City, Unite
They have alleged, without offering evidence, that Khalil’s prominent role in anti-Israel protests amounted to support for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel in October 2023.
Khalil and others involved in the protests have repeatedly denied claims of antisemitism.
In a letter dictated from jail last month, Khalil said his detention was a "direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza."
As Khalil’s immigration case plays out in Louisiana, his attorneys have also challenged his detention and potential deportation before a federal judge in New Jersey. That judge last week rejected the Trump administration’s effort to transfer jurisdiction of the legal battle to Louisiana, but has yet to rule on the petition for his release.