Federal immigration brokers didn’t have a warrant once they arrested anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil final month and defended their actions in new courtroom paperwork, saying the arrest was authorized.
Khalil, one of many ringleaders of anti-Israel protests at Columbia University final 12 months who the Trump administration is making an attempt to deport, was arrested about six weeks in the past from his university-owned condominium in New York City with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a part of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), telling him they have been revoking his inexperienced card and scholar visa, in response to Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer. He was then taken to a Louisiana detention heart.
Documents entered in a New Jersey courtroom on Thursday reveal a lawyer for Homeland Security wrote that when brokers confronted Khalil on March 8 and requested him to cooperate whereas they tried to confirm his identification, Khalil “stated that he would not cooperate and that he was going to leave the scene,” the lawyer wrote.
Mahmoud Khalil, left, and protesters, proper. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, left, Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service by way of Getty Images, proper.)
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The Homeland Security supervisory agent at that time “believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary,” he stated.
Lawyers for Khalil disputed the federal government’s account of the state of affairs and stated Khalil’s spouse went into their condominium to retrieve his Green Card just for the brokers to arrest him. Khalil is a Palestinian raised in Syria and a everlasting U.S. resident. Khalil’s attorneys argued that the Trump administration has proven no proof that he refused to cooperate with brokers throughout his arrest.
Greer, who was on the cellphone with Khalil and the arresting agent on the evening of the arrest, stated Khalil remained calm and complied with orders at the same time as brokers failed to point out an arrest warrant. His legal professionals say video launched by Khalil’s spouse reveals he remained cooperative.
“Today, we now know why they never showed Mahmoud that warrant — they didn’t have one. This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States,” Greer stated.
Columbia University scholar Mahmoud Khalil talks to the press through the press briefing organized by pro-Palestinian protesters who arrange a brand new encampment at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus on Friday night, in New York City, United States on June 1, 2024. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu by way of Getty Images)
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The Department of Homeland Security stated beforehand that it performed the arrest to guard U.S. nationwide safety and claimed that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
Khalil performed a main function within the protests towards Israel which rocked Columbia University final 12 months, and he met with college officers on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a gaggle of scholar teams urging the college to divest from Israel, in response to CNN. Khalil, who acted as a spokesperson for Columbia protesters, has not been charged with against the law.
An immigration choose has already dominated that Mahmoud Khalil might be deported from the U.S. on account of his involvement within the protests at Columbia University, saying that the U.S. authorities met its burden of proof to take away him. Khalil’s attorneys are interesting that call.
Marc Van Der Hout, a lawyer for Khalil, stated in a press launch put out by the American Civil Liberties Union that brokers informed Khalil when he was taken into custody that they’d an arrest warrant and his legal professionals solely realized this week with the brand new authorities submitting that there was none.
“The government’s admission is astounding, and it is completely outrageous that they tried to assert to the immigration judge — and the world — in their initial filing of the arrest report that there was an arrest warrant when there was none,” Van Der Hout stated. “This is egregious conduct by DHS that should require, under the law, termination of these proceedings and we hope that the immigration court will so rule.”
Khalil completed his necessities for a Columbia grasp’s diploma in December. Born in Syria, he’s a grandson of Palestinians who have been pressured to go away their homeland, his legal professionals stated in a authorized submitting.
His spouse, who’s a U.S. citizen, gave start to the couple’s baby this week. Khalil requested a brief launch to attend the start however ICE denied these appeals, leading to him lacking the occasion.
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in assist of Columbia graduate scholar Mahmoud Khalil, on Thursday, March 13, in New York City. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
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Khalil’s case has sparked a number of protests in New York City, together with a mass demonstration inside Trump Tower final month which noticed practically 100 folks arrested. It’s additionally being considered as a marker of the Trump administration’s makes an attempt to detain and deport visa holders who protested on school campuses.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt beforehand defended the Trump administration’s choice to arrest Khalil and claimed that he distributed pro-Hamas propaganda fliers on campus.
“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,” Leavitt informed reporters Tuesday at a White House press briefing, noting that on her desk have been the “pro-Hamas propaganda fliers with the logo of Hamas” on them that Khalil allegedly was distributing. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for siding with terrorists period.”
Fox News’ Diana Stancy, Alexis McAdams and Stepheny Price, in addition to The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
