Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team has submitted a new request to the court seeking his immediate release on bail or, alternatively, his return to New Jersey. This follows the government’s notification that Khalil will remain detained at a facility in Jena, Louisiana, based on allegations related to his green card application. The preliminary injunction that took effect Friday blocks his detention on foreign policy grounds.
Federal Judge Michael E. Farbiarz noted Friday that although the government rarely detains individuals on “misrepresentation” charges, he would not currently prevent authorities from using these allegations as grounds for Khalil’s continued detention.
“The government is making desperate, last ditch attempts to keep my husband unjustly imprisoned,” said Dr. Noor Abdalla, Mahmoud Khalil’s wife. “We are not afraid and will not be intimidated, because we know, and the government knows, it is only a matter of time before Mahmoud is free. The American people are with us, and can see right through the government’s unjust attempts to delay his release. No matter what the government pulls, we will bring Mahmoud home safe.”
“Like it has for the past three months, the government is using all of the tools available to it to hinder justice for Mahmoud,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel in the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. “The government practically never holds people in detention on a charge like this, and it’s clear that the government is doing anything they can to punish Mahmoud for his speech about Palestine. We will not stop until he’s home with his family.”
“Because its outrageous attempt to detain Mahmoud based only on Secretary Rubio’s say-so has been struck down as unconstitutional, the government now stoops to a new low by doing what the federal court said the government virtually never does—detaining a U.S. permanent resident based on an alleged omission in an immigration application,” said Ramzi Kassem, co-director of CLEAR at CUNY School of Law. “This only further proves Mahmoud’s claim that the government is retaliating against him for exercising his right to speak in defense of Palestinian rights and we won’t stop until he is free.”
The latest filing argues that Khalil poses no flight risk or danger and notes that detaining someone under such circumstances is extremely rare and appears retaliatory due to his public statements regarding Palestine.
“This is just another cruel attempt by the government to punish Mahmoud for his protected speech,” said Marc Van Der Hout, founding partner at Van Der Hout LLP. “Detaining someone on a charge like this is highly unusual and, frankly, outrageous. The district court soundly and clearly rejected DHS’s attempt to deport Mahmoud for speaking out about the genocide in Gaza, and there continues to be no constitutional basis for his detention.”
The initial immigration case against Khalil was built around Secretary of State Marco Rubio's foreign policy determination—a rationale now blocked by federal court order. Authorities then introduced claims concerning omissions in Khalil's green card application; however, according to his legal team these were refuted with evidence unaddressed by prosecutors.
“This is a classic move from the government’s playbook: make false claims and delay, delay, delay,” said Amy Belsher, director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation at NYCLU. “There’s zero legitimate reason for Mahmoud Khalil to remain detained — it's clear that the government's outstanding charge is baseless and retaliatory. No more lies or dragging feet. Mahmoud must be released immediately to go home to his family and newborn son.”
“The government’s decision to continue to detain Mahmoud on these patently false and pretextual charges is only more evidence of their cowardly vindictiveness toward him and their unrelenting desire to punish him for speaking out against them and their complicity in genocide,” said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Khalil's representation includes Dratel & Lewis; Center for Constitutional Rights; CLEAR; Van Der Hout LLP; Washington Square Legal Services; New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU); ACLU of New Jersey; ACLU of Louisiana; and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Case materials are available online.
