Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs [View all]

Last edited Thu Apr 10, 2025, 09:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Associated Press

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 2:50 PM EDT, April 10, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) -- Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted a brief memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the Trump administration's authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages U.S. foreign policy interests.

The two-page memo, (1) which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza. ... Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.

He said that while Khalil's activities were "otherwise lawful," letting him remain in the country would undermine "U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States."

{snip}

The submission was filed Wednesday after Judge Jamee Comans ordered the government to produce its evidence (2) against Khalil ahead of a hearing Friday on whether it can continue detaining him during immigration proceedings.

(1) https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25894225-dhs-documents-mahmoud-khalil/#document/p1

(2) https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-immigration-trump-deportation-gaza-columbia-1f5c87bd6b7193610e76490ac9bc710b

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34

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At Litigation Tracker, this is Mahmoud Khalil v. William P. Joyce et al. (D.N.J.)
Case no. 2:25-cv-01963 (formerly S.D.N.Y. Case No. 1:25-cv-01935)

https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
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Hat tip, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick at Bluesky.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social‬
https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social‪

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Wow. This is the full document submitted by Rubio against Mr. Khalil invoking INA 237(a)(4)(C).

The standard in immigration court is extremely deferential; a judge must accept this so long as it is "facially reasonable and bona fide." But this is so threadbare that it might not even satisfy that.

April 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM

https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lmi5l4xubs2i


Adil Haque
‪@adhaque.bsky.social‬
https://bsky.app/profile/adhaque.bsky.social

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"The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil"

"Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs."

Free this man immediately.

https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34

Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs
The U.S. government has submitted a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its main evidence in its deportation case against Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.
apnews.com
April 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM

https://bsky.app/profile/adhaque.bsky.social/post/3lmi47fk7lk2t