Mahmoud Khalil's Lawyer: Trump Admin Is Delaying in Federal Court While Racing to Deport Activist

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We get an update on the case of Mahmoud Khalil from Diala Shamas, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and part of Khalil's legal team. An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled Friday that the Trump administration has grounds to deport Khalil for taking part in Gaza student protests, despite being a legal permanent resident of the United States. The government's evidence in the case consists of a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio conceding that Khalil has no criminal history and that the U.S. is seeking to deport him based purely on his "beliefs, statements, or associations." Despite the setback, Khalil still has a separate case playing out in New Jersey, where lawyers are challenging the legality of his detention. "We are moving with urgency. The government is trying to slow down the case in federal court and speed it up in immigration court," says Shamas, who notes that throughout his detention, Khalil has continued to highlight the U.S.-backed Israeli war on Gaza. "That is the reason that he and many others are being subject to this retaliatory policy of arresting, detaining and transferring people simply for their protest."

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