NEWARK, N.J. – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported that the legal team for Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident, has asked U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz to order Khalil’s immediate release on bail or his return to New Jersey. Khalil has been detained in a remote facility in Jena, Louisiana, in what his attorneys allege is retaliation for his speech about Palestine.
Khalil’s legal team argues that he is being held on false and pretextual allegations related to his green card application, despite a federal court having blocked the government’s original rationale for his detention under a preliminary injunction issued Friday.
According to the ACLU, the detention was initially based on a foreign policy “determination” by Secretary Marco Rubio, which has now been enjoined by the court. In response, the government amended its justification, alleging that Khalil failed to accurately disclose past employment and affiliations in his immigration paperwork—claims his attorneys say are unfounded and already refuted with evidence. The government has reportedly not responded to their rebuttal.
Judge Farbiarz acknowledged that the government rarely relies on misrepresentation allegations to detain individuals, but allowed the government to proceed with Khalil’s continued detention. Civil rights advocates argue the justification is both retaliatory and pretextual.
Khalil’s wife, Dr. Noor Abdallah, condemned the decision, stating, “We are not afraid and will not be intimidated” by what she described as the court’s “desperate, last-ditch attempts” to keep her husband “unjustly imprisoned,” according to the ACLU.
Ramzi Kassem, co-director of the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project at the CUNY School of Law, said, “Because its outrageous attempt to detain Mahmoud based only on Secretary Rubio’s say-so has been struck down as unconstitutional, the government now stoops to a new low by doing what the federal court said the government virtually never does—detaining a U.S. permanent resident based on an alleged omission in an immigration application.” Kassem said the government’s actions are retaliation against Khalil “for exercising his right to speak in defense of Palestinian rights.”
Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel in the ACLU’s Center for Democracy, added, “It’s clear that the government is doing anything they can to punish Mahmoud for his speech about Palestine. We will not stop until he’s home with his family.”
In court filings this week, Khalil’s legal team emphasized that he is “neither a flight risk nor a danger to anyone.” They noted that the court itself has acknowledged that detention on such misrepresentation grounds is rare and, in Khalil’s case, appears retaliatory.
Marc Van Der Hout, founding partner of Van Der Hout LLP, said, “This is just another cruel attempt by the government to punish Mahmoud for his protected speech.”
Amy Belsher, director of immigrants’ rights litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), said, “This is a classic move from the government’s playbook: make false claims and delay, delay, delay. No more lies or dragging feet. Mahmoud must be released immediately to go home to his family and newborn son.”
Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said the government’s continued efforts to detain Khalil are “further evidence of their cowardly vindictiveness toward him and their unrelenting desire to punish him for speaking out against them and their complicity in genocide.”
Khalil is currently represented by a coalition of legal organizations, including Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR at CUNY School of Law, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the NYCLU, the ACLU of New Jersey, the ACLU of Louisiana, and the national ACLU.
Further updates on Khalil’s case are pending as his legal team awaits the government’s next move.
