A Trump-era provision enabling deportation based on political views is now being used to target a Palestinian activist held in ICE custody since March.
An American immigration judge ruled on Friday that Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian organizer and Columbia University graduate, is eligible for deportation from the United States under a provision of immigration law that permits removal based on perceived threats to foreign policy interests, US media reported.
The decision, reportedly delivered at a remote immigration court in central Louisiana, marks a significant development in a case that has drawn national attention from civil liberties groups and free speech advocates.
Khalil, 30, has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since March 8, when he was arrested in New York and later transferred to the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena.
In her ruling, Immigration Judge Jamee Comans cited a memo from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “presumptive and sufficient evidence” to support removal.
The memo—undated and presented without supporting documentation—asserts that Khalil’s beliefs and associations are contrary to US foreign policy. It contains no allegations of criminal conduct.
“There is no indication that Congress contemplated an immigration judge or even the attorney general overruling the secretary of state on matters of foreign policy,” Comans stated in court, dismissing defense arguments that the memo lacked transparency and accountability.
Khalil’s legal team challenged the government’s reliance on the memo and argued that they should be allowed to cross-examine Rubio. The court rejected both that motion and a request to terminate proceedings.
Following the decision, Khalil addressed the court for the first time.
“I would like to quote what you said last time, that ‘there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,’” he said.
“Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process.”
According to The Guardian, “Khalil’s legal team is asking the New Jersey judge to release him on bail so that he can reunite with his wife, who is due to give birth to their first child this month.”
Khalil’s lawyers said the case sets a dangerous precedent. “Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process,” attorney Marc van der Hout was cited as saying by The Guardian.
“If Mahmoud can be targeted in this way, simply for speaking out for Palestinians and exercising his constitutionally protected right to free speech, this can happen to anyone.”
Khalil’s legal team has until April 23 to file for a waiver.
In parallel, a federal case in New Jersey is challenging the legality of Khalil’s detention and the broader constitutional issues raised by the government’s argument.
That court has temporarily barred ICE from deporting Khalil while the legal challenge proceeds. A hearing is reportedly scheduled in that case later Friday.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
” perceived threats to foreign policy interests ” in other words the judge was paid off by the Zionists to look the other way. But the key word there is, perceived. Perceived might as well read, supposed, which might as well read, assumed. So he is assumed to have been guilty. That is not proof. What ever happened to the burden of proof? If he does get deported that sets a dangerous precedent. There is no law.
Quoting Henry David Thoreau…
” anyone in a free society where the laws are unjust has an obligation to break the law ” …
Canary Mission, and Betar did this. We need to expose them and cancel them for what they’ve done. There might not be an i in team, but there is an i in liberty.
“is eligible for deportation from the United States under a provision of immigration law that permits removal based on perceived threats to foreign policy interests” I just got a flash of insight – by this law, Donald J. Trump is pre-eminently eligible for deportation from the United States for nearly crashing the stock market with his stupid “Tariffs First – Make Tariffs Great Again” policy, something that is quite definitely a real and present threat to US foreign policy interests – ditto US security. Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team should present this argument to the judges ASAP.