A US immigration judge determined that the deportation case against Mahmoud Khalil could progress a month after a graduate student at Columbia University was detained for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian protest.
Judge Jamie Commans said at the end of a nearly two-hour hearing in Louisiana’s US state on Friday, the government was “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable.”
Halil, a permanent resident of the United States, can appeal the decision.
“Mahmoud has been subject to the due process charade, a serious violation of his rights to a fair hearing, and weaponisation of immigration law to curb objections,” one of his lawyers, Mark van der Hout, said in a statement after the hearing.
“This isn’t over, our fight continues,” he added.
The Halil case sparked extensive scrutiny as rights advocates accused President Donald Trump of cracking down on free speech and Palestinian activities under the guise of fighting anti-Semitism.
The administration is attempting to deport Halil under a rarely used provision of immigration law that empowers the Secretary of State to exclude non-citizens who view non-citizens in the United States as “a disadvantageous outcome to foreign policy.”
The government has not charged Khalil with any crimes.
In a two-page letter filed to the court and Halil’s lawyers, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote that his 30-year-old role should be fired for “anti-Semitic protests and destructive activities.”
Rubio’s letter did not accuse Halil of breaking the law, but said his department could revoke the legal status of immigrants, even if their beliefs, associations or statements were “otherwise legal.”
Halil’s supporters say they engaged in peaceful protests against Columbia University’s ties with Israeli military as part of a wave of campus demonstrations that swept the country last year amid Israel’s Gaza War.
Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Constitutional Rights Centre and another Halil lawyer, said on Thursday that Rubio’s letter is “a kind of sticky Soviet-style dictatt, with equal parts chilling in the sky.”
Reporting from outside the court in Yena, Louisiana on Friday, Al Jazeera’s Sihab Ratansi said that Khalil attended the court during the hearing.
“He said there’s nothing more important than just a legitimate process and basic fairness. [and] In his case, neither of these principles existed,” reported Ratanshi.
Halil has been held by the government since March 8th and was arrested late at night by immigration enforcement agents in front of her pregnant wife, a US citizen.
He was then transferred to two different facilities without notice to his family or attorneys.
In a statement read at a press conference outside Louisiana’s courthouse on Friday afternoon, Halil’s support team said the judge’s ruling was “surprisingly unfair.”
“Even though the government failed to prove that Mahmoud had broken the law, the court determined that a legal permanent resident could revoke his position in the defense of pro-Palestinians,” the team said.
“This is a blatant violation of the first revision [of the US Constitution] It is a dangerous precedent for those who believe in freedom of speech and political expression. ”
Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdallah, said in a statement read in another statement that the court’s decision was “a catastrophic blow.”
“It should not be considered removable from home to speak out against the murder of Palestinian families, doctors and journalists,” Abdallah noted Israel’s war of Gaza.
Louisiana immigration judge Commans sought an exemption from Halil’s legal team until April 23rd. However, the judge’s decision is not the last say on whether Khalil will be deported.
In another New Jersey federal court case, US District Judge Michael Fabiartz blocked deportation while considering Halil’s claim that the arrest was made in violation of U.S. Constitutional amendment protections for free speech.
Over the past few weeks, US immigration officials have also cracked down on several international students who have participated in Palestinian parental protests or spoken in defense of Palestinians in Gaza.
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