Mahmoud Khalil Asks Court Return Him Home To Pregnant Wife

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil — the Columbia University graduate who was detained by federal agents at campus housing last week — filed a motion to release their client from the detention center in Louisiana and return to his wife, who is eight months pregnant.

Khalil, a legal U.S. resident married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested on March 8 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, as part of a Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian protestors on college campuses.

The arrest happened one day after the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal grants from Columbia and vowed to arrest and deport student activists.

“No president can be allowed to set an ideological litmus test and exclude or remove people from our country who they disagree with," Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said. "We will not stop fighting until Mr. Khalil is free to return to his family, and until we know that the government will not use this archaic law against anyone else who dares to disagree with it."

As part of the court filing, the group of lawyers also asked the federal court of the Southern District of New York to block the Trump administration's new policy of using a provision of the 1953 Immigration and Nationality Act to arrest and detain noncitizens who engage in protest that could harm the country's international relations.

“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests” of the U.S., Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters last Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

The group of lawyers behind the preliminary injunction are from the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and Dratel & Lewis.

“In addition to its attempt to suppress Mahmoud’s speech by cruelly and unlawfully ripping him away from family and friends, the federal government endeavors to scare those in movement with Mahmoud so they stop exercising their rights to speech, expression, and association," Amy Greer, associate attorney with Dratel & Lewis, said. "The suite of actions taken by the incredible lawyers and organizations included here defend not only the constitutional rights of Mahmoud, but also the rights of thousands of students and millions of people around the country who are raising their voices alongside Mahmoud’s."

This is a developing story and may be updated. For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.