Judge says US can deport pro-Palestinian student protester
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JENA, Louisiana: An immigration judge ruled Friday (Apr 11) that a pro-Palestinian student protester, a US permanent resident detained by the Trump administration, can be deported, his lawyer said.
Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans said the government had met its burden to prove it had grounds to deport Mahmoud Khalil, Marc van der Hout said in a statement.
"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 weaponisation of immigration law to suppress dissent. This is not over, and our fight continues," he said.
Khalil is not yet scheduled for deportation, and the judge gave his attorneys until Apr 23 to seek a waiver, the statement added.
The student, a prominent face of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel's war in Gaza and who is married to a US citizen, was arrested and taken to Louisiana earlier this month, sparking protests. Several other foreign student protesters have been similarly targeted.
Comans had ordered the government to spell out its case against Khalil, who the government is seeking to deport on the grounds that his protest activities are a threat to national security.
In a letter to the court, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Khalil's activism could hurt Washington's foreign policy.
"FUNDAMENTAL FAIRNESS"
But he declined to argue formally that the Algeria-born Palestinian student was Hamas-aligned, as officials have told journalists.
The undated letter instead referred to Khalil's "participation and roles" in allegedly "anti-Semitic protests and disruptive activities which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States".
It made no reference to any alleged crime.
"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. Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present," Khalil told the court according to his legal team.
Dozens of high-profile lawyers have joined the case on Khalil's side, highlighting the perceived importance of the proceeding as a test case for freedom of speech, and the limits of Trump's power.
Khalil's arrest has triggered outrage from Trump opponents, free speech advocates and some on the political right, who say the case will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
Immigration officers have similarly detained and sought to deport a Tufts University student from Türkiye, Rumeysa Ozturk, and a Columbia student, Yunseo Chung. Their deportations have been blocked for now by courts.
The judge in a separate New Jersey case, brought by Khalil's lawyers to contest his detention, ordered lawyers for both sides to brief him on the outcome of the Jena hearing.
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