A quick update about the status of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student detained by ICE:
Federal Judge Jesse M. Furman, for now, prevented Mr. Khalil’s deportation [NBC; Forward]. However, Mr. Khalil remains in ICE custody, and his “have not been able to hold a private conversation with their client since his arrest” [NYT].
Mr. Khalil’s legal team remains hard at work, and Judge Furman has remained a critical role in pushing for due process in this case. “Judge Furman ordered the government to let Mr. Khalil’s lawyers speak with him Wednesday and Thursday as they prepare a new filing calling for his release. He also set a schedule for the lawyers to file arguments as to where the case should be heard” [NYT]. This filing has come in the form of Mr. Khalil’s “legal team filed an amended habeas petition and complaint with the federal court in the Southern District of New York, challenging his detention by ICE” [ACLU Press Release].
Given that “Trump said Khalil’s arrest was the first of many to come” [NBC], the outcome of this case will set an important legal precedent going forward fighting the Trump administration’s open racist and xenophobic agenda. I can only hope Mr. Khalil’s legal team is successful.
Additionally, I believe it is important to note that Judge Furman is a Jewish man – and has a history of being involved in legal cases against Trump [Forward]. The Trump administration has already used Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest not just to infringe upon free speech, but to pit Palestinian and Jewish peoples against each other [Forward]. Do not fall for this. No matter his claims, Trump is not fighting antisemitism – rather, he is punishing Palestinian people, enforcing racism and xenophobia, and setting up Jewish people to be political scapegoats in one fell swoop.
amhrancas 