Mahmoud Khalil’s attorneys file appeals to prevent future Ice detentions

Attorneys for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and legal US resident who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) following his pro-Palestinian activism, have filed appeals to prevent the Trump administration from detaining him again.

Lawyers representing Khalil argued to the federal third circuit court of appeals in Philadelphia that his release from Ice detention by a lower court should be affirmed and that the US government should be barred from detaining or deporting Khalil in the future.

“The Trump administration is still trying to bring me back to detention and block the federal court in New Jersey from reviewing my case, the same court that ordered my release and ruled that their actions against me were unlawful,” said Khalil of his case in a press release. “Their intention couldn’t be more clear: they want to make an example of me to intimidate those speaking out for Palestine across the country.”

Khalil was released from Ice detention in June after spending more than 100 days in the LaSalle detention center, an immigration jail in Jena, Louisiana. Michael E Farbiarz, a US district judge in New Jersey, ordered Khalil’s release and blocked the Trump administration from deporting him for foreign policy reasons.

But in September, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil should be deported to Syria or Algeria for not reporting certain information on his green card application.

The ruling from the judge, Jamee Comans, came amid a previous order from Farbiarz which bars Khalil’s deportation as the federal case proceeds in New Jersey. Khalil’s lawyers said they planned to appeal the latest deportation order and that Farbiarz’s mandates prevent Khalil’s removal.

“There is no world in which Mahmoud [Khalil] should be torn away from his family for a second time and sent back behind bars,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel in the ACLU’s Center for Democracy and member of Khalil’s legal team, in a press release.

“In this country, the government cannot punish people just because they don’t like what they have to say, and if it tries, the federal courts have an immediate role to play in stopping that unconstitutional behavior. That’s what the district court did here, and the government’s arguments for reversal are both weak and wrong.”

A federal judge recently lifted travel restrictions on Khalil, permitting him to speak at rallies across the US while fighting against the Trump administration’s deportation case. Khalil is now only required to give the government two days’ notice before traveling.

Previously, Khalil’s travels were strictly limited to New Jersey, New York, Louisiana and Michigan.

Amid Khalil’s ongoing deportation case, the Trump administration has come under fire for targeting the free speech of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. In September, a federal judge in Boston ruled that the Trump officials violated the US constitution by attempting to deport international students who engaged in pro-Palestinian actions or openly criticized Israel.