Mahmoud Khalil: US judge denies release of detained Palestinian activist | Mahmoud Khalil
A federal judge refused to order the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a setback for the students of the former Colombia University after a The main judgment Against the Trump administration’s efforts to keep him detained.
Khalil, the owner of a green card, has not been accused of a crime, is one of the most prominent people targeted in the US government’s campaign against the pro -Palestinian campus activity. Despite the key Rulings In his favor, Khalil has been arrested since March, Among the missing persons the birth of his son.
His advocates were hoping early in the week that he was about to walk for free. On Wednesday, Judge Michael E Farbaraz Ruling The Trump administration can no longer detention Khalil on the basis of allegations that he is a threat to US foreign policy. The federal judge in New Jersey said that the efforts made to deport him based on these reasons are probably unconstitutional.
Frapears gave the US government until Friday morning to appeal against the matter, which the Trump administration did not do. Khalil’s lawyer after that Argue It should be released immediately, but the government said it will be held in a Remote detention facility in Louisiana. The administration argued that he was authorized to continue his detention based on alternative reasons-allegations that he had lied to the request of the green card.
On Friday, Farbaraz said that Khalil’s lawyer failed to provide sufficient evidence that detention based on the claims of green cards was illegal, indicating that lawyers of the 30 -year -old activist can search for a guarantee from the Luisiana immigration judge.
Khalil strongly rejected the government’s assurances about the problems of requesting the green card, on the pretext that allegations were an excuse to keep him detained.
“Mahmoud Khalil was arrested in response to his call to Palestinian rights,” Amy Jarir, one of his lawyers, said in a statement on Friday evening.
“The government is now using harsh and transparent delay tactics to remove him from his wife and son, the newborn, before the day of their first father as a family. Instead of celebrating each other, he suffers [immigration] Detention as a punishment for his invitation on behalf of his Palestinian colleagues. It is not fair, he is horrific, and he is disgraceful. “
Khalil had previously concluded the idea that he had deleted information about his request.
In submitting a request last week, he stressed that he had never worked or his work as an “officer” at the United Nations Relief and Business Agency for Palestinian Refugees, as the administration claims, but he has completed accredited training from the university as part of his postgraduate studies.
Khalil said that he also stopped working at the British embassy in Beirut in December 2022, when he moved to the United States, despite the administration’s allegations that he worked in the Syrian embassy office for a longer period.
The Friday ruling, which was detained on the same day, came A group of famous parents A photographed a video Read Khalil’s message to his newborn son. Father’s Eid campaign, published by the American Civil Liberties Union, He called for the freedom of Khalil It included actors Mark Rovaloand Maherchala AliAryan Moid and Alex Winter.
Earlier this week, when there was a ruling in favor of Khalil, Dr. Nour Abdullah issued a statement, saying: “Real justice means that Mahmoud has never been unprecedented in the first place, and that a Palestinian father, from New York to Gaza, will not have to bear the painful separation of the prison walls like Mahmoud.
Marko Rubio, US Secretary of State, has previously claimed that Khalil was expelled because his continuous existence would harm American foreign policy, an effort that civil rights advocates said was a flagrant campaign on legal freedom.
