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submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 6:58 PM EDT, May 28, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge said the Trump administration’s effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil because of his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University likely violates the Constitution.

In a lengthy order issued Wednesday, Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote the government’s primary justification for removing Khalil — that his beliefs may pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy — could open the door to vague and arbitrary enforcement

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[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Khalil is not getting out of jail at this time, because the judge also ruled that he failed to prove that the second immigration charge is retaliatory selective enforcement.

After Khalil was arrested, the gov went looking, and they added more immigration charges: that he failed to disclose jobs and association memberships on his green card application in 2024. This included:

  • a stint at the UK embassy in Beirut (that may have been an unpaid internship)
  • some work with with UNRWA
  • membership in the Columbia student club (the application form asked about "clubs"--very overbroad as these things are)

The ruling in the habeas petition is that Khalil did not present enough evidence to show that the extra charges specifically are retaliatory selective enforcement for protected free speech. Because this is a preliminary injunction, Khalil had a higher burden of proof than in the final case. ("Likely to win" instead of "preponderance of the evidence")

With respect to the "foreign policy determination", Khalil presented a crap ton of evidence, including statements that Marco Rubio made on TV that basically proved the entire case. But his lawyers pretty much glossed over these extra charges, and so did pretty much everyone else.

this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
45 points (94.1% liked)

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