Anna Betts & Erum Salam
The Guardian / March 12, 2025
Court document claims ‘potentially serious foreign policy consequences’ amid outcry over Palestinian activist’s arrest
New York – The US government is relying on a rarely used provision of the law to try to deport a prominent Palestinian activist who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University, where he was a leader in last year’s campus protests.
A government charging document addressed to Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident and green card holder who is currently being held in a Louisiana detention center, said that secretary of state Marco Rubio “has reasonable ground to believe that your presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.
Green cards are rarely revoked in the absence of a criminal conviction, but the foreign policy provision is the only ground for deportation listed in the document.
Khalil was arrested in front of his wife and taken into custody on Saturday night by federal immigration authorities at his university-owned apartment.
Khalil served as a lead negotiator for the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University last year, mediating between the pro-Palestine protesters and the university administrators. The arrest has sparked alarm from free-expression advocates who see the move to deport Khalil as a flagrant violation of his free speech rights.
A Manhattan federal court held a hearing on Wednesday morning after Khalil’s lawyers challenged his detention, but it ended without a decision on whether he would be released from custody. During the brief hearing, an attorney for the Department of Justice asked for a change of venue for the case, from New York to Louisiana or New Jersey, where he was held before being sent south.
The judge, Jesse Furman, asked the government to file written arguments by Friday.
Earlier this week, Furman, an Obama-appointed judge in New York’s southern district, issued a ruling preventing Khalil’s deportation while the court reviews the legal challenge. Khalil’s lawyers contend that the Trump administration is unlawfully retaliating against their client for his activism and constitutionally protected speech.
Outside the courthouse after the hearing on Wednesday, Ramzi Kassem, a member of Khalil’s legal team and the founder and co-director of Clear, a legal clinic at the City University of New York, said that the provision of the law that the government is claiming to revoke the green card have gone beyond what Congress intended.
“The government, as far as we understand, is relying on a rarely used provision in immigration law to justify the detention of a lawful permanent resident and his placement in removal proceeding,” he said. “It is a provision that basically says that if the secretary of state determines that a non-citizen’s presence or activity in this country poses a serious risk of adverse foreign policy consequences, then that person can be processed for removal. That provision is not only rarely used, it is certainly not intended by Congress to be used to silence dissent.”
The New York Times recently reported that the state department’s rationale holds that its foreign policy to combat antisemitism around the world will be adversely affected by Khalil’s continued presence in the US, as the administration perceives most pro-Palestinian protests on campus as antisemitic.
Bill Hing, professor of law and migration at University of San Francisco, said that simply invoking US foreign policy aims would not be enough. He said: “The government has to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that his presence or activities in the US has potential serious adverse foreign policy consequences. The question is, how will they prove that? If he has done nothing more than decry the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, or accuse Israel of genocide, and demand ceasefire, is that adverse to US foreign policy? I don’t think so. I think that is protected free speech.”
Khalil’s lawyers are requesting that Furman order Khalil’s return to New York, enabling him to reunite with his wife, an American citizen who is expected to give birth next month. Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is also representing Khalil, said that his legal team would be filing briefs dealing with both the legality of the detention and the venue dispute over the next week.
Khalil’s legal team also includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and his lawyer Amy Greer.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court. Margaret Jay Finch, holding a sign that read “Civil rights for all people”, said she was “so upset that Mahmoud is in the darkness in Louisiana. I can’t tell you.”
The 83-year-old retiree added: “I feel so bad for his wife. I am so worried that this is against the first amendment and we’re going to lose our rights … This is such a dictatorship.”
Other protesters held signs saying “Then they came for Mahmoud” and “Hands off our students, Ice off our campuses”. They chanted “Free, free, Palestine” and “Release Mahmoud right now” as they crowded into the large public square in lower Manhattan that is surrounded by grand civic buildings, including the federal courthouse with its imposing pillars and sweeping staircase.
Actor and activist Susan Sarandon told the Guardian: “No matter where you stand on the genocide, freedom of speech affects everyone and this is a turning point in our history.”
On Monday, Donald Trump said that Khalil’s presence in the US was “contrary to national and foreign policy interests” and said that the arrest was the first of “many to come”. The president has repeatedly promised to revoke the visas of international students who have participated in pro-Palestine protests.
Furman has the authority to order Khalil’s release if he finds his rights were violated. The future of Khalil’s immigration status will be determined in a separate process in front of an immigration judge.
Diala Shamas, another of Khalil’s lawyers, said that speaking out on the issue of Palestine was the “canary in the coal mine” for free speech.
“Speaking out against what the Trump administration is doing does not give them the right to disappear our people … We need to fight as hard as we can for Mahmoud because of what this portends,” she said.
Anna Betts is a breaking news reporter for Guardian US
Erum Salam is a reporter for Guardian US
Sam Levine contributed reporting
