An immigration judge from the United States ruled that Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, allowing the administration of President Donald Trump to continue his effort to eliminate the student at Columbia University of the United States a month after his arrest in New York City.
Judge Jamee Comans’ ruling of the Lasalle Immigration Court in Louisiana was not a final determination of Khalil’s destiny, and does not mean that they will immediately eliminate it.
Comans gave Khalil’s lawyers until April 23 to request relief, through which they can argue for their right to remain in the country, before considering whether to issue a deportation order.
But he represented a significant victory for the Republican president in his efforts to deport foreign pro-pourers who are legally in the United States and, like Khalil, have not been accused of any crime.
Citing the immigration and nationality law of 1952, the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, determined last month that Khalil could damage the interests of US foreign policy and should be deported by his speech and activism “otherwise.”
Comans said he did not have the authority to annul a Secretary of State. The judge denied a motion from Khalil’s lawyers to quote Rubio and interrogate him about the “reasonable motives” he had for his determination under the 1952 law.
The judge’s decision occurred after a 90 -minute combative hearing held in a court located within a jail complex for immigrants surrounded by double collection razor cable directed by private government contractors in the rural area of Louisiana.
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
Khalil is a prominent figure in the Pro-Palestine Student Protest Movement that has crossed the New York City of Columbia campus.
He was born in a field of Palestinian refugees in Syria, has Algerian citizens and became a legal permanent resident of the United States last year. Khalil’s wife is an American citizen.
For now, Khalil remains in the Louisiana prison, where federal authorities transferred him after his arrest on March 8 in his apartment building at Columbia University, about 1,930 km away.
An immigration judge can govern that a migrant cannot be deported due to possible persecution in a country of origin, among other limited reasons.
In a separate case in New Jersey, the United States District Judge, Michael Farbiarz, has blocked deportation while considering Khalil’s statement that his arrest was made in violation of the protections of the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States for freedom of expression.
Khalil addresses the court
When the comians postponed, Khalil leaned forward, asking to go to the Court. The comians doubted, then agreed.
Khalil cited his comments at his audience on Tuesday local time that nothing was more important for the Court than “rights of due process and fundamental equity.”
“Clearly what we witness today, none of these principles was present today or throughout this process,” Khalil said. “This is exactly the reason why the Trump administration has sent me to this Court, a thousand miles away from my family.”
People join outside a federal court in New Jersey last month that protested by the arrest and arrest of Mahmoud Khalil. Fountain: AAP / Michael Nigro / Kick
The judge said his ruling delivered a letter without a two -page date signed by Rubio and submitted to the Court and Khalil’s lawyer.
Khalil’s lawyers, appearing through a video link, complained that they were given less than 48 hours to check the blonde and tests presented by the Trump administration to Comans this week.
Marc van der Hout, Khalil’s main immigration lawyer, repeatedly requested that the audience was delayed.
Comans rebuked him for what the judge said he was moving away from the purpose of the hearing, he said twice that he had “an agenda.”
Comans said the 1952 immigration law gave the Secretary of State “unilateral trial” to make its determination on Khalil.
The American Jews Pro-Palestinians gather outside the ICE headquarters in an emergency demonstration to free Mahmoud Khalil last month in New York City. Fountain: Getty / Anadolu/Selcuk Care
Khalil must be eliminated, Rubio wrote, for his role in “anti -Semitic protests and disruptive activities, which encourages a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
Rubio’s letter did not accuse Khalil of violating any law, but said that the State Department can revoke the legal status of immigrants who could damage the interests of the foreign policy of the United States even when their beliefs, associations or statements are “otherwise legal.”
After Comans finished the hearing, several of Khalil’s supporters cried when they left the courtroom. Khalil stood up and smiled at them, making a heart shape with his hands.
‘Immigration Law’ weapon ‘
Khalil has said that criticisms of the support of the United States government to the military occupation of the Palestinian territories of Israel are wrongly combined with anti -Semitism. His lawyers told the Court that they were presenting as evidence of Khalil’s interviews last year with CNN and other media in which anti -Semitism and other prejudices denounced.
His lawyers have said that the Trump administration was attacking him for a protected speech, including the right to criticize US foreign policy.
“Mahmoud was subject to a farce of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing and a weapon of the immigration law to suppress the dissent,” said Van der Hout in a statement after the hearing.
The American Immigration Court system is executed, and its judges are appointed by the United States Department of Justice, separated from the government’s judicial branch.
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