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An immigration judge in Louisiana has given the Trump administration roughly 24 hours to provide evidence to support its claims against Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent pro-Palestinian activist and legal U.S. resident it is seeking to deport, or she may rule to dismiss.
Judge Jamee Comans said the U.S. government has until Wednesday evening to produce evidence to justify its attempt to deport Khalil. She scheduled a hearing Friday, when she said she intends to decide whether Khalil can be deported or she will “terminate” the case.
“If he’s not removable, I don’t want him to continue to be detained,” Comans said. “I will have him released.”
Khalil, 30, was arrested by federal immigration authorities in New York last month and whisked to a Louisiana detention center. The Trump administration has argued that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. would have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” citing an obscure provision in immigration law. The government also accused Khalil of failing to disclose his employment at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut and at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in his permanent residency application.
Khalil has not been charged with any crime or convicted of any terror-related activity. Civil rights experts have said his case is a litmus test for how far the Trump administration is willing to go to suppress free speech.
Khalil’s attorneys have called his detention and the administration’s efforts to deport him “retaliation for his political beliefs.” They have said the government has not provided any evidence to them to support the allegations against him.
“The government has not produced a single shred of evidence to date to support any of its allegations or charges in this case including its outrageous position that Mahmoud’s mere presence and activities in this country have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” said Marc Van Der Hout, one of his attorneys, after the hearing Tuesday.
Van Der Hout also bristled at a potential ruling on whether Khalil can be deported, saying that would deny his client due process and the opportunity to challenge the government’s accusations.
“If this turns out to be what happens Friday, it would be an uncalled-for rush to judgment that would completely deprive Mahmoud of any due process, which is a foundation of our legal system,” he said.