Deportation order for Mahmoud Kahlil, yet a protracted legal battle looms
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Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, finds himself at the centre of a legal battle that could set a precedent for future cases of pro-Palestinian activists facing deportation. Khalil's deportation case is currently being played out in two different court systems: an immigration court and a federal court in New Jersey.
The deportation order, scheduled to be executed either to Algeria, where Khalil holds a passport, or to Syria, where he was born and grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp, is based on charges that Khalil committed fraud on his green card application. Specifically, it is alleged that he purposely left information off his application last year, including some work he'd done with the U.N. agency that aids Palestinians and his involvement in a pro-Palestinian activist group at Columbia.
However, Khalil's lawyers have stated that the government has never provided evidence for the claims against him. They argue that the fraud charges are bogus and that the real target is Khalil's political activism, which they claim is unconstitutional.
This case is similar to other high-profile cases of pro-Palestinian student protesters being detained for campus activism, all of which are in various stages of litigation. These students are fighting their deportations on free speech grounds and have had some success in federal courts so far.
In the federal court, the judge has issued an order prohibiting the government from deporting Khalil while considering his constitutional claims. The outcome of these cases could set a precedent for future cases of pro-Palestinian activists facing deportation.
The Trump administration first arrested Khalil in March, claiming that his pro-Palestinian activism was antisemitic and that he was a Hamas terrorist sympathizer. The government's claims against Khalil include that he advocated for violence and supported terrorists, as stated by Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.
However, Khalil and his lawyers have long said that these claims are baseless. Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's attorneys, has said that the government is making up charges to remove him because they disagree with his dissent from U.S. foreign policy.
Khalil spent more than three months in a detention center in Louisiana before his lawyers were able to get him released on bail in June. Jamee Comans, a U.S. judge in the state of Louisiana, ordered the deportation of Khalil, citing that Khalil deliberately withheld information in his application for permanent U.S. residency (Green Card).
The cases are moving through the federal court system, with big questions about whether appeals courts will ultimately protect the right to protest or allow the Trump administration to deport these pro-Palestinian student protesters. The federal courts have been successful in protecting the free speech rights of these protesters so far.
The deportation order may not lead to immediate deportation or even soon, as there is likely a long legal fight ahead. The stakes are high, not just for Khalil, but for all pro-Palestinian activists in the U.S. who exercise their right to free speech.
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