June 13 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration can continue to detain Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, two days after he said foreign policy grounds for his detention are insufficient and likely unconstitutional.
Michael Farbiarz of the U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark made the decision after government lawyers presented a new filing. Farbiaz on Wednesday had stayed the preliminary injunction until Friday, giving the government time to appeal.
The government said continuing to detain Khalil does not violate the injunction because he is now being detained based on “other grounds,” such as being undocumented when he entered the United States.
Also, they said Khalil could be held for failing to disclose all required information on his legal permanent resident application.
The administration said that “an alien like Khalil may be detained during the pendency of removal proceedings regardless of the charge of removability. Khalil may seek release through the appropriate administrative processes, first before an officer of the Department of Homeland Security, and secondly through a custody redetermination hearing before an immigration judge.”
The judge, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said Khalil can seek his release through a “bail application to the immigration judge.
“To the extent the Petitioner requests relief from this Court, the request is denied,” the judge ruled.
In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a memo, citing an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The secretary of state can deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the country would result in “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
On Wednesday, the judge said that while the Department of Homeland Security might have a stronger and enforceable claim to detain and deport Khalil, Rubio’s determination is not enough to warrant his continued detention and eventual deportation.
Brett Max Kaufman, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News: “The government practically never holds people in detention on a charge like this, and it’s clear that the government is doing anything they can to punish Mahmoud for his speech about Palestine. We will not stop until he’s home with his family.”
Khalil, who was born in 1995, grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and was granted permanent U.S. resident status. He led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year.
In March, he was arrested outside his student housing on campus and detained before the Trump administration accused him of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
He has not been charged with any crime.
