Judge - Trump administration can continue to detain Khalil

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A federal judge presiding over Mahmoud Khalil’s case ruled on Friday that the Trump administration can continue to detain the Columbia University activist.

In his ruling on Friday, Michael Farbiarz of the U.S. District Court for New Jersey rejected Khalil's request for release. The judge wrote that Khalil can remain in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, as long as the detention is not based on a determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the activist is a national security threat.

"To the extent the Petitioner requests relief from this Court, the request is denied," the judge said in his ruling.

Justice Department officials argued in the letter that while Khalil can’t be detained based on Rubio’s determination, according to the judge’s ruling, he can be detained for other reasons. The officials cited immigration-related statutes.

As a second accusation, they argued they could continue to hold Khalil for failing to disclose all required information on his legal permanent resident application. The court has allowed the government to detain Khalil based on that claim.

Brett Max Kaufman, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Khalil, said that the move is an attempt from the Trump administration to "delay justice for Mahmoud."

“The government practically never holds people in detention on a charge like this, and it’s clear that the government is doing anything they can to punish Mahmoud for his speech about Palestine," Kaufman said. "We will not stop until he’s home with his family.”

To justify Khalil’s removal, Rubio released a memo in April, citing an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. It allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the country would result in “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

Rubio wrote in the memo that allowing Khalil, who led protests against the war on Gaza, to stay in the U.S. would create a “hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”

But the judge, Michael Farbiarz of the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, ruled Wednesday that the foreign policy grounds for Khalil’s detention are insufficient and likely unconstitutional. Farbiaz stayed the preliminary injunction until 9:30 a.m. Friday, giving the government time to appeal. And by Friday morning, Khalil’s legal team filed a letter, requesting the court to order his release.

“The Government has not filed a notice of appeal of this Court’s Order by the Court-ordered deadline for the preliminary injunction to be in effect,” the letter said.

Khalil, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and and was granted permanent U.S. resident status, became a widely recognized activist amid the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year. In March, he was abruptly arrested outside his student housing on campus and detained before the Trump administration accused him of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” Since then, his legal counsel has been challenging efforts to deport him. He has not been charged with any crime.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has alleged that Khalil has acted to “glorify and support terrorists.”