CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez Explains ‘Rare’ Provision Rubio Used to Arrest Mahmoud Khalil: Still Have ‘Not Provided’ Evidence

CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez joined Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday to discuss the detainment and potential deportation of pro-Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil.

Blitzer began by noting that a federal judge “blocked that effort to deport him. CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez is here with me in the Situation Room. I know you’re getting more information. Priscilla. What are you learning?”

“Well, I am learning from sources that Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved of a use of a legal provision, a rare one, Wolf, to initiate this arrest and detaining not only of Khalil, but also of another activist,” Alvarez replied, adding:

Now, this is a legal provision that is in immigration law, essentially gives authority to the Secretary of State if they find that someone is deemed to be a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Now, in this case, it seems to be the argument that the government is making for the arrest of this activist.

But, Wolf, it is an extraordinary escalation of the immigration crackdown by this administration. Now, as you mentioned there, a federal judge has blocked the effort to deport him. There will be a hearing tomorrow where we will learn more about that. In a filing yesterday, said the following, quote, ‘To preserve the court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, petitioners shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court orders otherwise.’

So there are still some steps that we are going to see unfold here. I think one of the things will be watching very closely is what the government brings to that hearing. We know what provision in the law they’re using to detain this activist. But what evidence do they have? And ultimately, it’ll be a judge who will have to decide. Is this really free speech or was their support of a terrorist organization? Those are some of the questions we anticipate are going to be raised over the course of these proceedings.

Now, I will say this, we have a statement from the attorney, Khalil’s attorney, who says, quote, ‘The U.S. government has made clear that they will use immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress that speech’ — that being free speech. So there’s still so many questions here in terms of how they came to that determination, Wolf. But I am learning from my sources that the Secretary of State did approve the use of this provision for the detainment of Khalil, who is now being held in Louisiana.

“And does the Trump administration, specifically the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who ordered his deportation? Do they have evidence that Khalil was threatening Jewish students at Columbia University?” Blitzer followed up.

“And that’s exactly what we anticipate hearing more about tomorrow during the hearing. So far, they have not provided what evidence that they are using to hold him. Those are the questions we expect a judge will have. We’re also keeping a close eye on the docket for any filings from the government that would include those exhibits, for example, to say these are the reasons we think he’s a threat to U.S. foreign policy,” replied Alvarez as Blitzer thanked her for her reporting.

Watch above via CNN.