An immigration judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration can deport Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a decision that comes a month after his arrest prompted national outrage and marked the start of the federal government's broader crackdown on foreign students.
The Louisiana judge affirmed the Trump administration's argument that Khalil's beliefs threaten national security and justify his deportation."The court will sustain the charge of removability," Judge Jamee Comans said.
Khalil, 30, has until April 23 to file for relief and can remain in the United States until then. A federal judge in New Jersey has temporarily barred Khalil's deportation while he fights a similar challenge there.
Khalil addressed the court after the ruling.
"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," he said in a statement his defense team presented after the hearing. "Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process. This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months."
His legal team said it will "continue working tirelessly until Mahmoud is free." “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," his attorney, Marc van der Hout, said in a statement. "This is not over, and our fight continues."Khalil's defense team is seeking a preliminary injunction from the federal court in New Jersey. It would release him from custody and could block the Trump administration policy of arresting and detaining noncitizens for speech critical of Israel and in support of Palestinian people in Gaza, the team said in its statement on Friday.
Defense team attorney Ramzi Kassem said on MSNBC Friday that the lawyers immediately went before the New Jersey-based federal court to update it on the matter in Louisiana, as ordered.
He argued the Trump administration's strategy in the case, to fight for every possible legal justification, is "backfiring for them" and exposing the case as driven by Khalil's speech.
"For a country that values free speech, … that should just not be possible," he said of possible deportation over Khalil's participation in campus protests.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement Friday called Khalil. She accused him, without providing evidence, of supporting terrorists and harassing people based on their faith.