A federal court in New Jersey has issued an opinion indicating that the detention of Mahmoud Khalil on foreign policy grounds is likely unconstitutional. The court found that Khalil’s argument regarding unconstitutional vagueness is likely to succeed. Further information has been requested by the court to make a decision on his request for release from detention.
Judge Michael E. Farbiarz described the foreign policy charges against Khalil as “unprecedented” and potentially unconstitutional. He stated, “the issue now before the Court has been this: does the Constitution allow the Secretary of State to use Section 1227, as applied through the determination, to try to remove the Petitioner from the United States? The Court’s answer: likely not.”
Khalil’s legal team expressed their commitment to continue fighting, asserting, “The district court held what we already knew: Secretary Rubio’s weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional. We will work as quickly as possible to provide the court the additional information it requested supporting our effort to free Mahmoud or otherwise return him to his wife and newborn son. Every day Mahmoud spends languishing in an ICE detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, is an affront to justice, and we won’t stop working until he is free.”
The legal team awaits a full ruling on their preliminary injunction motion, along with Khalil’s motions for release on bail and his return to New Jersey.
Judge Farbiarz also warned about broader implications: “If Section 1227 can apply, here, to the Petitioner, then other, similar statutes can also one day be made to apply. Not just in the removal context, as to foreign nationals. But also in the criminal context, as to everyone.”
Khalil was arrested on March 8 by the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) due to his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University. He was subsequently transferred 1,400 miles away from his family and legal counsel to a detention facility in Louisiana. His detention has caused him to miss significant family events.
Khalil is represented by Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the New York Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Jersey, and American Civil Liberties Union.
