The ACLU is demanding the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident, who has been detained in a remote facility in Louisiana for allegedly misrepresenting his employment and affiliations in his immigration paperwork, which they argue is a pretext for retaliation against his speech about Palestine.
Surveillance footage from Columbia University has exposed as false the Trump administration’s claims that Mahmoud Khalil attempted to flee arrest during a March 8 encounter with ICE agents, and his legal team is urging the immigration court to dismiss the case and restore his freedom.
ICE submitted a misleading affidavit to a federal judge in order to obtain a search warrant to target Columbia University students for deportation, and the affidavit was unsealed in court as part of a lawsuit filed by the students.
A U.S. immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University student activist, is eligible for deportation due to a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleging he posed “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States, despite no criminal charges, no immigration violations, and no credible evidence presented by the government.
BURLINGTON, VT – U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III denied a request to order ICE to…