When Mahmoud Khalil, who led the pro-Palestinian demonstrations among Columbia University students, was taken into custody this month, the Trump administration argued that he should be deported to prevent the spread of anti-Semitism and invoked a law that is rarely used.
Lawyer for Halil, a legal permanent resident in Louisiana detention, criticized Israel and immediately responded that the administration was retaliating against his clients for a constitutionally protected speech promoting Palestinian rights.
Last week, the government quietly added new charges to the lawsuit against Khalil, saying it intentionally failed to disclose membership in several organizations, including a UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees who applied for permanent residency in the United States last March. He also said he did not disclose any work he did for the UK government since 2022.
The Trump administration appears to be partially using the new allegations to avoid the First Amendment issue filed in the Halil case. In a filing against his release on Sunday, Justice Department lawyers alleged that the new allegations reduced the importance of concerns about Halil's right to free speech.
“Halil's first amendment claim is a red herring,” they wrote. Given the new allegations, they added that there is “independent basis” for his deportation.
“The new deportation venue is patently weak and an excuse,” said Ramzi Kasem, lawyer for Halil, co-director of Kuria, the legal clinic at City University of New York. “The government's scrambling to add to the 11th hour underscores the initiational motivation for retaliation against Khalil for his protected speech in support of Palestinian rights and livelihoods.”
Halil's lawyers are expected to argue that the new charges are an excuse for retaliation for client speeches and for detention that is detained far from his home and family. They are fighting for his release in New Jersey federal court. Halil's wife, an American citizen and living in New York City, is expected to give birth next month.
New allegations listed in the Department of Homeland Security documents include Halil's failure to disclose his work with the United Nations agency or the Columbia University apartheid dibust. Halil received his master's degree from Colombia in December.
The government also said that Khalil did not list continued employment at the Syrian embassy at the British embassy in Beirut, Lebanon since 2022.
The efforts of New Jersey's Halil's lawyers to secure his release are separate from the immigration court case (now held in Louisiana) that could lead to his deportation. However, in order to deport Mr Halil on the basis of the new allegations, the government must convince the immigration judge that it was intentional that it did not disclose any relevant information and would make a difference in the likelihood of receiving a legal residence status.
The Trump administration also stands up to the original justification for Halil's detention, saying the Secretary of State can launch deportation lawsuits against non-citizens whose presence in the United States is seen as a threat to the country's diplomatic agenda.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Halil of taking part in anti-Semitic activities and mentioned the protests on the Columbia campus, and said students expressed their support for Hamas.
Mr. Halil's lawyer denied that his client promoted Hamas, claiming that more generally his speeches were protected by the First Amendment. They are expected to challenge the constitutionality of the law that Rubio was initially used to justify Halil's detention.
Last week, New York federal judge Jesse Furman, who considered Khalil's case before moving to New Jersey, said the issues of the first and fifth amendments brought by the lawsuit ensured careful review.
“The fundamental constitutional principle that every person in the United States is entitled to the legitimate process of law is not less,” he wrote.
