An immigration judge has ruled that the Trump administration can proceed with its effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., in a case that Khalil’s attorneys and civil rights experts say has enormous implications for free speech in the U.S.
Judge Jamee Comans determined in a hearing on Friday afternoon that the government has grounds to move forward with its case against Khalil, a Palestinian student activist. His legal team has until April 23 to appeal the decision. Comans said that if his attorneys do not meet the deadline, she will order for him to be deported to Syria, where he was born, or to Algeria, where he holds citizenship.
Khalil addressed the court after the ruling, saying that neither “fundamental fairness” nor due process “were present today or in this whole process.”
“This is exactly why the Trump administration sent me to this court 1,000 miles away from my family,” said Khalil, whose wife, a U.S. citizen, is due to give birth to their first child this month.
Khalil’s legal team condemned the ruling and vowed to fight for his freedom.
“Today, we saw our worst fears play out: Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing, and a weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent,” attorney Marc Van Der Hout said in a statement. “This is not over, and our fight continues.”
Amy Greer, another member of Khalil’s legal team, called the case an “egregious overreach” by the U.S. government.
“Every single person in this country has the right to speak out against issues that matter to them — and I fear that this decision will embolden the Trump administration to target other vulnerable people who are simply speaking out for Palestinian human rights and against an ongoing genocide,” Greer said.
The administration has contended that Khalil’s pro-Palestinian activism amounted to antisemitism and that his presence in the U.S. would have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” citing an obscure provision in immigration law. The government also has claimed that Khalil did not disclose his employment at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut in his application for permanent residency, nor that he was a member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA.
On Wednesday, the administration submitted a memo to the court from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which he cited Khalil’s “past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations” as the basis for his deportation and argued that allowing him to remain in the U.S. would foster a “hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
Khalil’s legal team criticized the memo in a press briefing Thursday, saying that the letter showed that the government has “no case whatsoever” against their client. Baher Azmy, the legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, told reporters that the government is going to extraordinary lengths to target Khalil.
“This is not a routine immigration case or even routine habeas case,” he said. “This case is intentionally projecting a message of repression about who can say what in this country and the consequences to to your liberty and your life if you object to U.S. policy.”
Khalil also has a pending case in a federal court in New Jersey, where his attorneys are seeking a preliminary injunction that, if granted, would release him from custody while his immigration case proceeds.
