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A federal judge sided with Mahmoud Khalil, an anti-Israel ringleader detained by the Trump administration, blocking the government from continuing to hold him on “foreign policy” grounds.
U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction preventing the government from detaining or removing Khalil, 30, based on a memorandum issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The memo asserted that Khalil’s presence “compromises a compelling foreign policy interest.”
“The government cannot claim an interest in enforcing what appears to be an unconstitutional law,” Farbiarz wrote, adding that the threat to free speech raised serious First Amendment concerns.
The ruling is a significant legal setback for the administration’s efforts to deport Khalil, who has been held at a detention facility in Louisiana following his involvement in anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University.
FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS ATTEMPTED DEPORTATION OF ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL MAY BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
While the ruling grants a preliminary injunction against Khalil’s removal, it stops short of ordering his release.
The court’s decision will remain on hold until Friday morning, giving the government time to appeal.
READ THE RULING – APP USERS, CLICK HERE
ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL’S FREE SPEECH LAWSUIT AGAINST US GOVERNMENT MUST BE HEARD: JUDGE
Khalil, a green card holder, was arrested after leading student protests on the Ivy League campus. He has argued that his free speech rights were being “eroded” by the Trump administration.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorneys have argued that Khalil’s free speech claims were a “red herring,” saying that the 30-year-old lied on his visa applications.
Khalil, they said, willfully failed to disclose his employment with the Syrian office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he applied for permanent U.S. residency. The agency also accused Khalil of failing to disclose his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
Rubio has cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to justify Khalil’s removal from the U.S. The provision allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the U.S. “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Rubio accused Khalil of participating in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which foster a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” Rubio wrote.
Khalil has Algerian citizenship through his mother, but was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria.
As of Wednesday evening, no further hearings are scheduled in Khalil’s immigration case.
“We’re just waiting for the judge to issue her ruling,” Johnny Sinodis, a partner at Van Der Hout LLP who is representing Mahmoud Khalil in immigration proceedings, said during a press conference following the hearing.
Meanwhile, the federal court’s preliminary injunction will prevent Khalil’s removal until at least Friday.
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