An immigration judge from Louisiana ruled this Friday that Mahmoud Khalil, a student of Student Protests of the University of Columbia arrested by the government can be deported, her lawyer reported.
Khalil is one of the most prominent faces of the protest movement that exploded last year against the Israel War in Gaza. He was arrested and transferred to Louisiana in March. He has permanent legal residence and is married to an American citizen.
Judge Jamee Comans said the government had fulfilled his obligation to demonstrate that he had reasons to deport Khalil. He alleges that his protests represent “a threat to national security.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfctmt2isdk
“Today we saw how our worst fears materialized: Mahmoud was subjected to a farce of due process, to a flagrant violation of his right to a fair audience and the use of the immigration law as a weapon to repress the dissent. This is not over, and our fight continues,” said one of his defenders, Marc van der Hou.
The judge gave his lawyers until April 23 to request an exemption from deportation.
In his statement before the court, the young man said: “I would like to cite what you said last time: that there is nothing more important for this court than the right to due process and fundamental equity. Clearly, what we witnessed today did not comply with any of these principles.”
