A Manhattan federal court hearing on Wednesday morning over the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and recent graduate of Columbia University, ended without a decision on whether he would be released from custody.
Khalil, a permanent US resident with a green card, was arrested in front of his wife and taken into custody on Saturday night by federal immigration authorities at his university-owned apartment. His lawyer says that the authorities were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card.
Khalil, who has Palestinian heritage, served as a lead negotiator for the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University last year, mediating between the pro-Palestine protesters and the university administrators.
He is currently detained in an immigration facility in Louisiana while awaiting immigration court proceedings.
The US government is seeking to deport Khalil, alleging that his activism constituted “activities aligned to Hamas”, but have not provided any evidence to substantiate that allegation.
During the brief hearing on Wednesday morning, an attorney for the Department of Justice asked for a change of venue for the case, from New York to Louisiana or New Jersey, where he was held before being sent south.
The judge, Jesse Furman, asked the government to file written arguments by Friday.
Earlier this week, Furman, an Obama-appointed judge in New York’s southern district, issued a ruling preventing Khalil’s deportation while the court reviews the legal challenge brought by Khalil’s attorneys, who contend that the Trump administration is unlawfully retaliating against their client for his activism and constitutionally protected speech.
Outside the courthouse after the hearing on Wednesday, Ramzi Kassem, the founder and co-director of Clear, a legal clinic at the City University of New York, who is part of Khalil’s legal team, said that what happened to Khalil “is nothing short of extraordinary and shocking and outrageous”.
“It should outrage anybody who believes that speech should be free in the United States of America,” Kassem said. “He was taken by US government agents in retaliation, essentially, for exercising his first amendment rights, for speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, and for being critical of the US government and of the Israeli government.”
Khalil’s lawyers are requesting that Furman order Khalil’s return to New York, enabling him to reunite with his wife, an American citizen who is expected to give birth next month. Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is also representing Khalil, said that his legal team would be filing briefs dealing with both the legality of the detention and the venue dispute over the next week.
Khalil’s legal team also includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and his lawyer Amy Greer.
The Trump administration has not charged or accused Khalil of any crimes.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court. Margaret Jay Finch, holding a sign that read “Civil rights for all people”, said she was “so upset that Mahmoud is in the darkness in Louisiana. I can’t tell you.”
The 83-year-old retiree added: “I feel so bad for his wife. I am so worried that this is against the first amendment and we’re going to lose our rights … This is such a dictatorship.”
Other protesters held signs saying “Then they came for Mahmoud” and “Hands off our students, Ice off our campuses”. They chanted “Free, free, Palestine” and “Release Mahmoud right now” as they crowded into the large public square in lower Manhattan that is surrounded by grand civic buildings including the federal courthouse with its imposing pillars and sweeping staircase.
Actor and activist Susan Sarandon told the Guardian: “No matter where you stand on the genocide, freedom of speech affects everyone and this is a turning point in our history.”
On Monday, Donald Trump stated that Khalil’s presence in the US was “contrary to national and foreign policy interests” and said that the arrest was the first of “many to come”. The president has repeatedly promised to revoke the visas of international students who have participated in pro-Palestine protests.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Tuesday that the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, “reserves the right to revoke the visa of Mahmoud Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act”, which, she said, gives him power to revoke green cards or visas from individuals that are “adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interest of the United States of America”. Green cards held by permanent residents present in the US are not typically revoked without a criminal conviction or evidence of unlawful activity.
Furman has the authority to order his release if he finds his rights were violated. The future of Khalil’s immigration status will be determined in a separate process in front of an immigration judge.
Kassem spoke to the unusual circumstances of the case, which does not appear to entail any evidence of wrongdoing on Khalil’s part, but rather relies on an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. “The government, as far as we understand, is relying on a rarely used provision in immigration law to justify the detention of a lawful permanent resident and his placement in removal proceeding,” he said.
“It is a provision that basically says that if the secretary of state determines that a non-citizen’s presence or activity in this country poses a serious risk of adverse foreign policy consequences, then that person can be processed for removal. Now, of course, that provision is not only rarely used, it is certainly not intended by Congress to be used to silence dissent,” Kassem continued.
Diala Shamas, another of Khalil’s lawyers, said that speaking out on the issue of Palestine was the “canary in the coal mine” for free speech.
“Speaking out against what the Trump administration is doing does not give them the right to disappear our people … We need to fight as hard as we can for Mahmoud because of what this portends,” she said.
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