A judge granted Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team more time to review his immigration case during a hearing Friday in Louisiana.
Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on March 8. He is facing possible deportation over his alleged support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, although he has not been charged with a crime.
The judge at Lasalle Immigration Court in Jena said she thinks Khalil “deserves more time” to prepare before a pleading and delayed further proceedings until April 8.
A lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security originally objected to the matter, arguing that Khalil is being “held at the government’s expense.” However, Khalil’s attorney told the judge that “these are serious charges, we need time to review.”
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Khalil looked calm throughout the hearing, which unfolded in a small, windowless courtroom. He spoke relatively quietly in his responses to the judge and seemed somewhat relaxed. The judge asked him what language he understood best and he said English and Arabic, and when she asked if they could proceed in English, he said yes.
Khalil played a major role in the anti-Israel protests at Columbia.
In a letter released by his attorneys on Tuesday, Khalil characterized his arrest as “indicative of anti-Palestinian racism.” He also blamed Columbia’s administration, including former university President Minouche Shafik, who was criticized for failing to adequately respond to allegations of antisemitic behavior from activists on campus before she ultimately stepped down.
“My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the U.S. has continued to supply Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention,” Khalil wrote. “For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.”
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In one of the first legal victories for Khalil, a judge on Wednesday ordered his deportation case be heard in New Jersey, not Louisiana, where he is being held. The judge cited a law that required the case be held in the same jurisdiction where Khalil’s attorneys first filed a lawsuit to challenge his detention.
The Trump administration previously said there was a bedbug infestation at the detention facility in New Jersey, near Khalil’s arrest, leading them to have to ship him to Louisiana.
“His unlawful and unjust detention cannot stand. We will not stop fighting until he is home with me,” Noor Abdalla, his wife, said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this week.
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
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