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Lawyers for Columbia University agitator Mahmoud Khalil argued that Nazis can “express their beliefs” in the United States while their client faces deportation – and dramatically warned that “anyone could be next.”
Khalil’s attorney, Marc van der Hout, ripped the feds for a “lack of due process” following a ruling in Louisiana immigration court Friday that favored the government’s bid to boot the Syrian-born permanent resident out of the country over his anti-Israel activism on the embattled Ivy League campus.
“Our constitution allows people to speak their minds,” van der Hout said at a virtual press conference.
“Nazis in this country, the Supreme Court has held, are able to demonstrate, are able to express their beliefs – but not Mahmoud Khalil. The Ku Klux Klan is able to march and express its beliefs – but not Mahmoud Khalil.
“We are going to fight for his right to speak out about what’s happening in the Middle East and speak out against what the United States is doing.”
Judge Jamee Comans ruled during the two-hour hearing that the government had “established by clear and convincing evidence that [Khalil] is removable” – a decision the rabble-rouser’s legal squad claims she made before the apparent divisive court proceeding even began.
Khalil – a 30-year-old green card-holding Palestinian born in Syria – was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at his Columbia-funded Manhattan apartment on March 8 following a crackdown by the Trump administration on anti-Israel demonstrators at university campuses.
A day later, the student-visa holder, who is also a citizen of Algeria, was then shipped to an ICE detention center in Jena, Louisiana, over a thousand miles away from his pregnant wife, who is an American citizen.
His lawyers have since waged a court battle against the Trump administration, which is looking to deport Khalil over his role in disruptive and, at times, violent protests at the elite school, where he received his graduate degree in December.
Palestinian activist group, Columbia Apartheid United Divest, which Khalil serves as a spokesman for, is responsible for the riotous takeover at Columbia’s Hamilton Hall last April.
His lawyers have been fighting the arrest both in immigration court and in New Jersey federal court, where a habeas corpus petition was filed for his release on the grounds that the seizure violated the First Amendment right to free speech, since the government allegedly targeted him for his anti-Israel activities.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security invoked an obscure law that allows a Secretary of State to deport noncitizens who potentially threaten US foreign policy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio filed a two-page memo Wednesday arguing that Khalil’s presence undermines “US policy to combat antisemitism” and his participation in “antisemitic protests” fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the country.
It also cited the Trump administration’s authority to deport noncitizens whose presence hurts US foreign policy interests.
Khalil’s lawyers said Friday’s ruling has “absolutely nothing to do with foreign policy,” adding that the feds have little evidence against the demonstrator and are only targeting him for expressing his beliefs.
“You cannot deport someone from the country for engaging in constitutionally protected free speech,” Johnny Sinodis, another lawyer on Khalil’s legal team, said during Friday’s press conference.
“For now, today’s hearing and the finding by the judge sets a really dangerous precedent. If this is allowed to stand, anyone can be next. This line of thinking and this type of policy from the government is steps away from going after US citizens and I think we all have to be very cognizant of that possibility.”
The ruling won’t see Khalil deported immediately, with his lawyers still able to fight their case before a final determination is made.
His team said additional evidence and applications will be filed by April 23.
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