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#mahmoudkhalil

64 posts45 participants2 posts today

Analysis: Mahmoud Khalil's continuing legal fight to stay in the US may take months or years.

"Despite Friday’s immigration court decision, Khalil’s attorneys continue to argue in federal district court in NJ for his release on free speech grounds.

"In immigration court, Khalil could apply for asylum & appeal the ruling before the Board of Immigration" & could further appeal within the U.S. circuit court.

theintercept.com/2025/04/12/ma

#fascism #MahmoudKhalil #uspol #racism #freespeech #bds .

The Intercept · What Comes Next in Mahmoud Khalil’s Fight Against DeportationBy Jonah Valdez

Analysis: Mahmoud Khalil's continuing legal fight to stay in the US may take months or years.

"Despite Friday’s immigration court decision, Khalil’s attorneys continue to argue in federal district court in NJ for his release on free speech grounds.

"In immigration court, Khalil could apply for asylum & appeal the ruling before the Board of Immigration" & could further appeal within the U.S. circuit court.

theintercept.com/2025/04/12/ma

#fascism #MahmoudKhalil #uspol #racism #freespeech #bds .

The Intercept · What Comes Next in Mahmoud Khalil’s Fight Against DeportationBy Jonah Valdez
Continued thread

So, if you were wondering whether there's anything hypothetical about the "chilling effect" all this fascist repression is designed to produce in folks who oppose the Trump regime, a recent Guardian article demonstrates that it's real and ongoing - not just for anti-genocide protestors and foreign students, but for US-born critics of the regime writing in college papers too:

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

US student journalists go dark fearing Trump crusade against pro-Palestinian speech

"Fearing legal repercussions, online harassment and professional consequences, student journalists are retracting their names from published articles amid intensifying repression by the Trump administration targeting students perceived to be associated with the pro-Palestinian movement.

Editors at university newspapers say that anxiety among writers has risen since the arrest of the Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention fighting efforts to deport her. While the government has not pointed to evidence supporting its decision to revoke her visa, she wrote an op-ed last year in a student newspaper critical of Israel, spurring fears that simply expressing views in writing is now viewed as sufficient grounds for deportation.

Ozturk is one of nearly a dozen students or scholars who have been seized by immigration officials since 8 March, when Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and green card holder, was arrested and placed in deportation proceedings over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Student editors report particularly acute anxieties among international students who have contributed to their newspapers, but say that requests to take down stories over fears of retaliation are coming from US citizens, too."

The reality that no authoritarian regime wants dissidents to realize, is that they literally do not have the resources to police and punish *everyone* who opposes the state. What they rely on is cracking down on high profile targets that generate a lot of publicity, folks like Mahmoud Khalil, and Rumeysa Ozturk, to force everyone else to self censor, lest they be next. I'm not going to criticize the student writers for asking college newspapers at institutions that have shown no ability or willingness to protect them, to erase their critiques of the regime to protect their personal safety; very few people in our society are actually prepared to suffer the horrible consequences of a fascist police state targeting them personally, and a lot of people reading this would make the same decision in their shoes.

What I will say however is that this response is exactly what the fascist Trump regime wants, and that's why it behooves the rest of society to give a fuck about the free speech rights of student protestors and journalists; and act in numbers large enough to protect us all while working to stop this fascist repression by any means necessary.

The Guardian · US student journalists go dark fearing Trump crusade against pro-Palestinian speechBy Guardian staff reporter
Continued thread

In what may well be one of the most shameful episodes in American legal history since the abolition of chattel slavery, a Louisiana immigration judge has ruled that the Trump regime can continue its blatantly unconstitutional deportation of a lawful permanent US resident and political prisoner, Mahmoud Khalil, pretty much because Marco Rubio says so:

commondreams.org/news/mahmoud-

'Very Dark Stuff': Judge Rules Palestine Activist Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported

"A U.S. immigration judge in Louisiana on Friday ruled that Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and former Columbia University graduate student arrested last month after protesting Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, can be deported, a decision that came despite the Trump administration admitting the imminently expecting father committed no crime and was being targeted solely for constitutionally protected speech.

Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans said that she lacked the legal authority to question the determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Khalil was deportable. Earlier this week, Comans gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until Friday to produce evidence that Khalil is eligible for deportation.

No such evidence was provided other than Rubio's assertion that he reserves the right to order Khalil's expulsion under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which empowers the secretary of state to expel noncitizens whose presence in the United States is deemed detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests."

As the article itself notes, this isn't a final victory for the Trump administration; Khalil can and will continue to fight this, and most legal experts seem pretty confident this is all going to end up in front of the Supreme Court before the government can actually deport him; although why the court's 6-3 fascist high composition gives anyone confidence that they'll stop the regime's fascist and blatantly unconstitutional ideological policing and repression, is somewhat beyond me. As horrifying as this decision is, a random immigration judge doesn't get to say "surprise, fascism is legal now" even if that's more or less what this ruling is pointing to.

With that having been noted however, I need folks to understand what the regime's successful (for now) argument is here, because if you don't get that, it's impossible to grasp just how far these nazis clearly mean to go with this. The government is admitting that Mahmoud Khalil had a legal right to be in the United States, and committed no crime whatsoever. They are expressly stating that he's being targeted for deportation because of his political beliefs, and opposition to the US-back genocide being conducted by Israel, against Palestinians in Gaza as we speak; which they have chosen to define as antisemitism for political and propaganda reasons. This is a fundamental denial of Khalil's First Amendment rights which regardless of what you heard on Fox News, apply to everyone in the United States, not just people born there.

Despite this however, the regime is arguing that they have the right to deport Khalil because the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 gives the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the right to unilaterally, even unconstitutionally, order Khalil's expulsion; citing that the Act empowers him "to expel noncitizens whose presence in the United States is deemed detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests." Who decides what US foreign policy interests are, has a right to to declare those decisions state secrets, and can change those potentially secret objectives at a whim? The Trump regime. Who decides which actions are "detrimental" to U.S. foreign policy decisions and who should be deported for them? Well the regime's argument is that it's Marco Rubio or whoever happens to be Trump's Secretary of State, and that he can do it by a whim, without explaining or justifying his decisions whatsoever.

So you caught that right? The regime can violate the constitutional rights of even a lawful US resident, because Marco Rubio feels a way, and he's not required to provide any more proof than "I said so." And yesterday, a U.S. immigration judge agreed with that logic. All of which now begs the question, what, or who, will Little Marco decide is "detrimental to U.S. foreign policy decisions" tomorrow?

Common Dreams · 'Very Dark Stuff': Judge Rules Palestine Activist Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported | Common Dreams"If Mahmoud can be targeted in this way, simply for speaking out for Palestinians and exercising his constitutionally protected right to free speech, this can happen to anyone," one of his lawyers warned.
Continued thread

“'There is no indication that Congress contemplated an immigration judge or even an attorney general overruling the Secretary of State on matters of foreign policy,' said Judge Comans as she made her ruling [permitting Trump to deport Mahmoud Khalil]."

~ Delaney Nolan

#Trump #fascism #immigrants #MahmoudKhalil #violence #cruelty
/8

zeteo.com/p/breaking-mahmoud-k

Zeteo · BREAKING: Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported, Immigration Judge RulesBy Delaney Nolan
Continued thread

Update. More good coverage in @TheGuardian.
theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

"The decision sides with the Trump administration’s claim that a short memo written by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, which stated Khalil’s “current or expected beliefs, statements or associations” were counter to foreign policy interests, is sufficient evidence to remove a lawful permanent resident from the United States. The undated memo, the main piece of evidence submitted by the government, contained no allegations of criminal conduct."

The Guardian · US judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can be deported for his viewsBy Oliver Laughland

Analysis: Mahmoud Khalil's continuing legal fight to stay in the US may take months or years.

"Despite Friday’s immigration court decision, Khalil’s attorneys continue to argue in federal district court in NJ for his release on free speech grounds.

"In immigration court, Khalil could apply for asylum & appeal the ruling before the Board of Immigration" & could further appeal within the U.S. circuit court.

theintercept.com/2025/04/12/ma

#fascism #MahmoudKhalil #uspol #racism #freespeech #bds .

The Intercept · What Comes Next in Mahmoud Khalil’s Fight Against DeportationBy Jonah Valdez
Replied in thread

@glynmoody I really wished the media would be honest about this "judge", Louisiana immigration judge Jamee Comans, who ruled #MahmoudKhalil can be deported for his views #murica #USPol

The law:
8 CFR 1001.1 (l) The term immigration judge means an attorney whom the Attorney General appoints as an administrative judge within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, qualified to conduct specified classes of proceedings, including a hearing under section 240 of the Act. An immigration judge shall be subject to such supervision and shall perform such duties as the Attorney General shall prescribe, but shall not be employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service."

Interview: Supreme Court Orders U.S. to “Facilitate” Return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The Maryland resident was denied due process rights & deported to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador.

Trump claims he can't ensure Abrego Garcia's safe return.

And on Mahmoud Khalil, Marco Rubio concedes Khalil has no criminal history, arguing he should be deported as part of efforts to combat antisemitism.

democracynow.org/2025/4/11/ice

#MahmoudKhalil #trump #uspol #abregogarcia #cecot #fascism #racism .

Democracy Now! · Supreme Court Orders U.S. to “Facilitate” Return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El SalvadorBy Democracy Now!

Report: "US judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can be deported for his views", agreeing with Trump that Khalil’s ‘beliefs & associations’ are counter to US foreign policy interests"

"If Mahmoud can be targeted in this way, simply for speaking out for Palestinians & exercising his constitutionally protected right to free speech, this can happen to anyone over any issue the Trump administration dislikes."

~Mahmoud's Lawyer

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

#uspol #mahmoudkhalil #fascism #deportation .

The Guardian · US judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can be deported for his viewsBy Oliver Laughland