On Friday (June 13), a federal judge in the United States rejected Mahmoud Khalil’s request for release. Despite the judge’s previous ruling that the Trump administration could not detain and deport this Columbia University student based on U.S. foreign policy interests, federal prosecutors are now holding this pro-Palestinian activist on other grounds.
In Newark, New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz had previously ruled on Wednesday that the government could not detain and deport Khalil on grounds of national foreign policy interests.
However, the Trump administration stated on Friday that they are detaining Khalil on different grounds, specifically alleging immigration fraud. The U.S. State Department had previously revoked Khalil’s green card, accusing the 30-year-old student of lying in his visa application.
Farbiarz noted that Khalil’s lawyers failed to successfully argue why the government’s use of this charge to detain him was illegal. Khalil had denied this accusation earlier.
Khalil’s lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout, stated that hardly anyone has been detained for immigration fraud by the government before.
“It is very unusual, frankly shocking, to detain someone on such charges,” Van Der Hout said. “There is still no constitutional basis for his detention.”
Farbiarz had previously stated that legal residents like Khalil, who had obtained green cards, are rarely detained for immigration fraud. Yet on Friday, he suggested that Khalil should have his immigration lawyer apply for his bond.
This ruling marks a new development in Khalil’s legal battle to be released from the detention center. Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University in New York, was arrested on March 8, becoming the first foreign student arrested by the Trump administration following actions taken against pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. university campuses last year, as part of efforts to combat domestic anti-Semitism.
Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, is a U.S. citizen and gave birth to their first child in April.
Previously, Khalil had requested temporary release to be by his son’s side when he was born, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied the request.
However, in late May, Farbiarz ruled that Khalil could have “contact visits,” allowing him to hold his newborn son for the first time in the detention center, with organic glass separating the father and son during the visit, as customary.
(Reference: Reuters)