Judge Rules Detained Columbia Student Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported
A judge ruled on Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met the burden of proof necessary to deport Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, who the Trump administration has accused of pro-Hamas activities.
“The decision that we have been waiting for, a judge has just ruled that the Trump administration’s effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil can move forward. Correspondent Brooke Taylor, live right near that courthouse in Louisiana, tell us what the judge is saying in there, Brooke,” began Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum.
“Hi Martha, yeah, this has been long anticipated and some major news just to first give you some perspective. We’re down the street from the ICE detention center. The courtroom is inside of there. They didn’t allow any phones or cameras. So we’re finding out this information from our reporter who’s over there down the She tells us, as you just mentioned, the immigration judge has found Mahmoud Khalil removable,” Taylor replied, adding:
Khalil’s attorneys have until April 23rd to file relief applications. I asked that reporter what the immigration judge was able to say. She cited those DHS papers and said that the Secretary of State Marco Rubio was able meet that burden.
And again, they have decided that Mahmoud Khalil is removable. The next question, Martha, of course his attorneys are going to fight this, but how long that process is going to take right now for him to be deported? We’ll send it back.
The AP reported this week that the federal government argued in a memo this week that Khalil could be deported for his beliefs. The AP reported, “Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted a brief memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages U.S. foreign policy interests.” The report added:
The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.
Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.
He said that while Khalil’s activities were “otherwise lawful,” letting him remain in the country would undermine “U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.”
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
