Mahmoud Khalil's legal team has submitted a request to the court for his immediate release on bail or, at the very least, his return to New Jersey. This action follows the government's decision to continue holding Mr. Khalil in a facility in Jena, Louisiana, based on allegations related to his green card application. These allegations are deemed false and pretextual by his legal team.
Judge Michael E. Farbiarz is overseeing the case and noted that while it is rare for the government to detain individuals on "misrepresentation" charges, he will not prevent the government from using these claims to justify Mr. Khalil's continued detention.
Dr. Noor Abdalla, Mr. Khalil’s wife, stated: “The government is making desperate, last ditch attempts to keep my husband unjustly imprisoned... No matter what the government pulls, we will bring Mahmoud home safe.”
Brett Max Kaufman from the ACLU’s Center for Democracy commented: “Like it has for the past three months, the government is using all of the tools available to it to hinder justice for Mahmoud... We will not stop until he’s home with his family.”
Ramzi Kassem of CLEAR at CUNY School of Law added: “Because its outrageous attempt to detain Mahmoud based only on Secretary Rubio’s say-so has been struck down as unconstitutional... This only further proves Mahmoud’s claim that the government is retaliating against him.”
The filing asserts that Mr. Khalil poses no flight risk or danger and highlights that detaining someone under these circumstances is exceedingly rare and retaliatory.
Marc Van Der Hout of Van Der Hout LLP said: “Detaining someone on a charge like this is highly unusual and, frankly, outrageous... there continues to be no constitutional basis for his detention.”
The government's case initially relied on foreign policy grounds determined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio but was later enjoined by federal court. Additional claims regarding inaccuracies in Mr. Khalil's green card application were also challenged by his legal team.
Amy Belsher from NYCLU remarked: “There’s zero legitimate reason for Mahmoud Khalil to remain detained — it's clear that the government's outstanding charge is baseless and retaliatory.”
Baher Azmy of the Center for Constitutional Rights concluded: “The government’s decision to continue to detain Mahmoud on these patently false and pretextual charges is only more evidence of their cowardly vindictiveness.”
Mr. Khalil's representation includes Dratel & Lewis, Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, NYCLU, ACLU of New Jersey and Louisiana, and ACLU.
