(AFP) – A judge moved the legal case of a pro-Palestinian protest leader detained and slated for deportation by US authorities to a new court Wednesday, but not the highly conservative jurisdiction sought by President Donald Trump’s administration. The administration had pushed for Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil’s case to be heard in Louisiana, a district sympathetic to deportation efforts, but a New York judge instead moved it to New Jersey.
“The government first moved Mahmoud to Louisiana, then it tried to move his federal case there, too, hoping for better odds in court,” said Ramzi Kassem, law professor at City University of New York and co-director of CLEAR, a legal non-profit that represents Khalil. “The judge rightly rejected that approach and transferred the case to a court in the greater New York City area, close to Mahmoud’s home, where the case and, most importantly, Mahmoud himself, belong. We intend to bring him home next.”
Khalil, one of the most prominent faces of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, was arrested and taken to Louisiana earlier this month, sparking protests. The government has not accused Khalil of breaking any laws. Instead, officials said his permanent residency was being revoked over his involvement in the protests under rarely used powers to deport non-citizens accused of undermining US foreign policy.
His arrest has triggered outrage from critics of the Trump administration as well as free speech advocates, including some on the political right, who say such a move has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Judge Jesse Furman moved the case on grounds that he did not have jurisdiction, as the legal filing that initiated it was submitted while Khalil was in New Jersey, not New York.
Furman also wrote, “this is indeed an exceptional case and there is a need for careful judicial review.” “Such judicial review is especially critical when, as here, there are colorable claims that the Executive Branch has violated the law or exercised its otherwise lawful authority in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner,” he wrote.
© 2024 AFP
