Trump administration lays out its evidence for deporting activist Mahmoud Khalil
The day before activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a two-page letter to the Department of Homeland Security accusing the Columbia University graduate student of participating in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities.”
That letter is now at the heart of the Trump administration’s case against Khalil, according to his attorneys.
The letter, which is dated March 7, was released by Khalil’s legal team on Thursday, the day after the Trump administration submitted it in an immigration court filing. Rubio writes that Khalil’s continued presence in the U.S. would have “potentially serious adverse foreign consequences, and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”
But Khalil’s lawyers say the government has provided no additional evidence to explain the basis for Rubio’s conclusion.
“Two pages. That’s it,” said Marc Van Der Hout, one of Khalil’s lawyers. “There is no there there at all.”
Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security released their evidence against Khalil, who is a lawful permanent resident, after an immigration judge in Louisiana ordered them to do so at a hearing on Tuesday.
The Trump administration is trying to deport the 30-year-old, who played a prominent role in campus protests last year. Judge Jamee Comans said she will rule on Friday whether Khalil can be deported, or whether he must be freed. Whichever side loses is likely to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Khalil’s case has become a crucial test for how far the Trump administration can go to deport noncitizen protesters. Khalil insists he was expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza, while administration officials accuse him of providing support to Hamas terrorism.
Khalil’s legal case is proceeding on multiple tracks. While an immigration judge considers the evidence against him, Khalid’s lawyers are also challenging his March 8 detention in federal court in New Jersey.
After ICE agents arrested Khalil on March 8 and shipped him to Louisiana, Rubio said he had revoked Khalil’s green card.
Rubio relied on a rarely used statute from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that authorizes the secretary of state to personally order the deportation of people whose presence in the U.S. the secretary believes “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
But in 1990, after the Cold War ended, lawmakers modified the law to protect “beliefs, statements, or associations” that are “lawful within the United States,” and raised the standard for deportation to cases in which the foreigner’s presence in the U.S. would “compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.”
Khalil’s lawyers say that Rubio’s letter alone does not meet that high standard.
“His determination, quote unquote, has absolutely nothing to do with foreign policy,” Van Der Hout said during a Zoom meeting with reporters on Thursday. “What does he talk about? He talks about First Amendment activity in the United States, and the effect on people in the United States.”
Days after Khalil was arrested and detained, Homeland Security officials charged him with several additional civil violations. They allege he withheld information on his 2024 green card application, including his work history with a United Nations relief agency and his involvement with a pro-Palestinian activist group at Columbia University.
Khalil’s lawyers deny those charges. The government filed additional documents on Wednesday in support of those charges, Van Der Hout said, “but it is zero to do with the foreign policy charge. And there is zero support for the government’s allegations about any misrepresentation.”
Free speech advocates argue the administration is violating the U.S. Constitution by targeting immigrants for their activism and their political beliefs. Khalil and several other students and scholars who have been detained have challenged their arrests on constitutional grounds.
Federal judge declines to order Trump officials to recover deleted Signal messages
The watchdog group American Oversight had asked a federal judge to order top national security officials to preserve any messages they may have sent on the private messaging app Signal.
Welcome to summer: U.S. braces for first significant heat wave of the new season
For many Americans, high humidity will make it feel in the triple digits. The National Weather Service is urging people to prepare to protect themselves from the dangers of extreme heat.
Trump says he’s close to ‘a Deal’ with Harvard, as judge grants injunction
Trump's Truth Social comments came as a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that would continue blocking the president's efforts to bar international students from attending Harvard.
Trump is no stranger to setting 2-week deadlines. Here’s how others have played out
Since his first term, Trump has promised action on everything from tax legislation to health care within a fortnight — only for his announcements to materialize months later or not at all.
A man is charged with attempting to kidnap Memphis Mayor Paul Young
Police say Trenton Abston, 25, came to Mayor Paul Young's home armed with a Taser. Officers allegedly found rope and duct tape in his car.
Voice of America gutted by Trump adviser Kari Lake
The Trump administration is slashing jobs at Voice of America's parent agency by 85%. Journalists who have risked their freedom to report for the broadcaster wonder what happens next.