Mahmoud Khalil's challenge to his detention moves forward
Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil's bid to remain in the United States survives after a New Jersey federal judge decided Tuesday he could retain jurisdiction over the case.
Khalil claimed he was detained and targeted for deportation because of his speech at pro-Palestinian protests on the Columbia campus and challenged his detention based on the constitutionality of the State Department's finding that his continued presence in the country could have "serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the United States.
Judge Michael Fabiarz did not address the substance of Khalil's challenge but decided the case belonged in his courtroom so he could assess the Trump administration's basis for Khalil's removal. Fabiarz said an immigration court in Louisiana, which has already allowed for Khalil's removal, did not have the ability to "look under the hood" of Khalil's claims.
"If there needs to be fact-finding here, it may potentially be sprawling, and it may potentially involve sensitive evidence, or (renewed) requests to depose senior officials," Fabiarz said. "This is not the kind of fact-finding work the immigration courts have been built for."
Fabiarz previously found that the Newark court can retain jurisdiction over the case in a decision issued earlier this month. The judge wrote that there were still "other jurisdictional hurdles" to consider before reaffirming in his latest opinion that the case can stay in his courtroom.
The federal government had argued that Khalil's habeas challenge should be denied in part because the Newark court cannot hear the case.
"Today we moved one step closer to vindicating Mr. Khalil's rights by challenging his unlawful detention and the administration's unconstitutional and retaliatory actions against him," Amy Greer, one of Khalil's attorneys, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The case could have consequences beyond Khalil's status, since the State Department is using similar justification to attempt to deport other students and recent graduates who were outspoken supporters of the Palestinian cause.
Khalil, a lawful permanent resident, was detained on March 8 at his student apartment building in New York. He was taken to 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, then to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, before ending up in a Louisiana detention center, his attorneys said.
After his lawyers filed a petition for Khalil's immediate release, a federal judge in New York last month moved the case to New Jersey.
Fabiarz rejected the federal government's request to move the case to Louisiana earlier this month.
The following week, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil is removable after Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a section of the law that deemed him deportable because, the government claimed, his continued presence in the US would have an adverse consequence on foreign policy.
Khalil's legal team said it has pending motions seeking his release so he can be with his wife, who recently gave birth to their first child.
"As I am now caring for our barely week-old son, it is even more urgent that we continue to speak out for Mahmoud's freedom, and for the freedom of all people being unjustly targeted for advocating against Israel's genocide in Gaza," his wife, Noor Abdalla, said in a statement Tuesday. "I am relieved at the court's finding that my husband can move forward with his case in federal court. This is an important step towards securing Mahmoud's freedom. But there is still more work to be done."
