NEW YORK – A federal court session in Manhattan is set for Wednesday concerning a lawsuit advocating against the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University. Khalil faces potential deportation from the United States due to his involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the institution.
Immigration officials apprehended Khalil, a permanent resident of the U.S., over the weekend in New York, subsequently transferring him to an immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman has issued an order preventing the deportation of the 30-year-old while the court examines the case brought forth by Khalil’s legal team. His attorneys are pushing for his return to New York and release under supervision, asserting that his detention is a retaliatory action against his right to free speech.
In a joint submission before Wednesday’s hearing, both Khalil’s attorneys and the government indicated that the government’s position is to argue against the Southern District of New York as the appropriate venue for this case.
Columbia University has emerged as a pivotal site for pro-Palestinian activism, part of a wider movement that spread across U.S. campuses last year. These protests have led to the arrest of over 2,000 individuals involved in such demonstrations.
President Donald Trump has praised Khalil’s arrest, suggesting it would be the first in a series of deportations for students engaging in what he described as “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activities” on social media.
Despite acting as a spokesperson for the Columbia protestors, Khalil has not been criminally charged. The White House clarified that Khalil’s deportation is being pursued under a segment of the Immigration and Nationality Act that permits deportation on foreign policy grounds, as outlined by press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Khalil’s defense and civil rights organizations argue that the government’s actions are a misuse of its immigration authority to suppress free expression. Khalil, who met his master’s degree requirements at Columbia in December, is of Syrian descent and has Palestinian heritage, as per a legal document filed by his lawyers.
Additionally, Khalil is married to an American citizen, and the couple is anticipating the birth of their first child.
